Objective: Changing His Ways
by master-of-fate.captain-of-soul
Summary: Lucy Heartfilia, a rookie for the FTSA, becomes partnered with the top-dog and badass spy, Natsu Dragneel. While dealing with a group of terrorists, both operatives begin to feel different. Will he forever be the coldhearted, ruthless playboy? Or will Lucy be able to change his ways? (I DO NOT OWN FAIRY TAIL) (nalu, rolu, other minor pairings)
1. Chapter 1

**Third Person POV**

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEE-

Lucy turned rolled over and turned off her alarm clock. The sleep in her eyes vanished and was replaced by a smile as she saw the picture on her nightstand. It showed her, all in black, holding up a badge. Her face was showing no emotion, but inside her heart was ready to burst with happiness.

Standing beside her was Mirajane (A.K.A The She-Devil), her trainer and second-in-command. Mira hadn't bothered to hide her bright smile.

Lucy had just passed her training for FTSA (A.K.A, The Fairy Tail Spy Agency) and was starting as a rookie on the field. Today was her first day and, for better or worst, the start of her first mission. Unfortunately, she had yet to know who her partner was or what the mission was about.

She got out of bed and started to get ready for the day. She was happy and nervous all at the same time. She wore a simple blue blouse that flared out on the sleeves and bottom and wore light blueish gray bootcut jeans. Sighing, she popped her syrup-less waffle into her mouth while she zipped up her knee-high boots. Then, without further ado, she left her two-story condo, and into her life as a FTSA agent.

* * *

The FTSA building was located under Fiore Central Park and Wilderness Reserve. Every entrance, camera, and conveniently placed tree were hidden and disguised so slyly that a number of new recruits have lost their brand-new jobs just because they got lost in the park itself- not to mention the labyrinth underneath it.

Luckily, Lucy has memorized the way to and from every entrance and exit there is. And this particular morning was no different. She veered of the path (looking around for any pedestrians first of course) and headed behind a large oak tree.

Lucy pulled a leaf and immediately, a tiny piece of bark slid upwards near the base of the trunk revealing a retractable needle. Knowing she would only have five seconds before the needle retracted and the bark slid back over, she quickly placed her pricked her thumb on the needle which identified her as an agent from the DNA in her blood. And then she fell.

In a matter of eight seconds, from the time she reached for the leaf to the time she landed on cold hard metal, she had entered the FTSA (or as agents like to call it, "The Base"). She hurried down the hallway and quickly flashed her ID to the scanner knowing the metal tunnel would flood in a time frame of 13 seconds. She passed through and entered an elevator (which demanded an eye scan to be of use) and decelerated down into The Base.

A rush of people went up and down the hallways. Some in casual clothes (office workers), some in long white coats (lab workers developing new tech., poisons, ect.), and the rest wore skin-tight, stretchy, black, suits. They were simply called, "suits". Each suit was equipped with a gun, water, extra bugs, walkie talkies, a taser, multiple knives, a rappeling hook, night vision goggles/ binoculars, and a million other things that are always being added and improved.

Lucy headed straight to Erza Scarlet's (A.K.A Titania) office (the president and director of the FTSA) to collect her mission file, be briefed, and finally meet her she never met the legendary agent, was scared to _d_ _eath_ of Titania. The only thing she knew about Titania, was she was top-dog and scary as hell.

Before she knew it, Lucy was standing in front of the twin oak doors that lead to Titania's office. "I can do this." she mumbled. A split second after her hand touched the wooden doors, a female's voice answered, "Come in!" _How the hell did she hear me?_ Lucy thought. She took a deep, shaky breath and pushed open the heavy, oak doors.

A woman with long, dark red hair sat behind a large desk. In front of the stood two small, plush chairs. A name tag was sitting on the desk and as Lucy got a closer look she realized, that ERZA FREAKING SCARLET was staring at Lucy's face. She was frozen in shock.

Erza gestured to one of the chairs, "Take a seat Lucy Heartfilia." Without a moments hesitation, Lucy complied.

"Yes, ma'am."

They were in the middle of a brief stare off when the twin doors burst open, bits and pieces of wood splintering. Both women immediately grabbed their guns from their holster and pointed it towards the door.

And then, the almost mythical man, Natsu Dragneel (A.K.A "Salamander") walked in looking extremely fucking badass. He was wearing his tight black suit and sunglasses (which most likely had a second use). His _very_ attractive face had a small smirk playing on it.

"Natsu Dragneel! You're late! Not to mention the fact that you just broke my door! I'll have you know that the repair cost is coming out of your paycheck!" Erza screamed at him.

"Jeez, take a chill pill _Erzy."_ At that moment, the probability of Erza's head blowing up was a million to one. All the while, Lucy sat there memorized, staring at the man. ' _ohmygod,'_ Lucy thought. ' _he has pink hair! Wait, is the legendary Salamander my partner? I thought he already had a partner... Wasn't her name-'_

"Unfortunately," started Erza, cutting Lucy out of her thoughts. "This reckless man will be your partner throughout your career as a FTSA agent. His name i-"

"But doesn't he already have a partner?" Lucy blurted out. Oops. She covered her mouth. Natsu's smirk dropped. The mood in room got dark. Fast. It was _never_ alright to ask about someones previous partner. It just wasn't done. "... Um, I mean... Um I uh...sorry." she mumbled.

"Yes," replied Erza, the dark aura still surrounding her. "He did have a partner. Poor girl. We lost her a couple months ago."

Lucy turned to Natsu. "I'm sorry." She whispered, her voice barely bigger than a whimper.

Natsu, with a clenched jaw replied, "It's fine. Forget about it." Erza cleared her throat. Inside she was heartbroken, but on the outside, because she needed to be fierce (if not for her, for her agency), she kept a straight face- void of all emotion.

"The case you will be working on is about a group of terrorists," She slid two identical files to both Lucy and Natsu. "They go by the name of The Big Bang-for obvious reasons- and they are currently the number one terrorist organization in the world. I want you two to infiltrate their base-become one of them. You're going under your own names, but your cover will be two expert bombers. Therefore, each of you will be reading," Erza grunted as she pulled out a three inch thick book. "This. It has all you need to know to become a professional bomber."

 _They make those?!_

Both operatives were silent. "Um, what?" they said in perfect and probably never to be repeated unison. They looked at each other, dumbfounded. ' _Shit!'_ Lucy thought as she felt herself blushing, ' _Why does he have to be so damn attractive?'_ Salamander smirked. And Lucy pouted. Salamander mimicked her pout and Lucy wrinkled her nose and, inevitably, Salamander mimicked that too. Lucy rolled her eyes, sighed, and looked back to Erza. She assumed he also mimicked that. She was correct.

"Anyway," said Erza with an amused smile thinking of the cute exchange. "You have no reason to suit up. Just read the book and file thoroughly. I want a full report on bomb building by tomorrow, so get going." She waved them off, dismissing them. "Oh and Heartfilia?" She said right before Lucy stepped through the door, "Your new code name is Princess."

Lucy turned and left without another word.


	2. Chapter 2

**Third Person POV**

'Princess?! _Oh, yeah! Suuure. Erza gets Titiana, Mira gets The She-Devil, and I get Princess! That seems fair! I am **not** some damsel in distress who needs saving! I can take care of myself! I can do anyth-' _ "Oof!" Lucy yelped mid mind vent.

She looked of to see the back of a pink haired man- Natsu Dragneel. "Omygoshimsoso _so_ sorry!Iwasn'twatchingandi-" All of a sudden she looked down to find a tan, slender finger on her lips. She trailed her eyes up his hand, then arm, then shoulder, then neck, to find him either smirking or smiling-she wasn't sure.

"S'okay hottie. Or wait! Shouldn't I be calling you _'Princess'_?" And with that he turned around and began to walk away.

And, fortunately for Lucy, she snapped back to reality. _'That was rude! Not to mention disrespectful! He needs to be taught a lesson!'_ "Luuuccyy, KICK!" and before her eyes, her foot traveled up higher to his neck. Then he did something no one else has ever done before. Without turning around, he reached his right hand back and... caught her foot.

Then he turned around, all the while still holding holding Lucy's right foot. He pulled her closer. "Oh, did I forget to mention that I have the fastest reflexes in FTSA's history?' He pulled her even more closer. "Oops." He whispered quite seductively. Then as fast as a cat, Lucy twisted in the air and used her left foot to kick/knock him down. At the end, she ended up sitting on him, holding his right wrist- the hand he used to catch her foot. Lucy cocked her head to the side. "Did I forget to mention I have the fastest kick in FTSA's history?" She leaned down until her pink, full lips were touching his ear. Then she whispered- in full seductive mode-, "Oops."

Lucy got up, like nothing happened and walked home. With all the work she had, it would be a long night.

* * *

Natsu headed to the locker room to take off his suit when Gray Fullbuster (A.K.A Ice Boy- a name he has complained about on several occasions.) barged in. "I just don't understand! Who gets called Ice Boy? Hmm?!" Natsu laughed.

"Well, the new girl is called Princess, so you're not the only one with a 'Princess' in their name."Natsu and Gray have a love-hate relationship. They fight non-stop and call each other names 24/7 365. But, they will also have each others back like nobody's business. "Oi, shut up flame breath!"

"I only tried eating fire once!" Gray gave him an intense glare. "Fine! Twice!" Gray glared. "It's exciting okay?!" Natsu said defensively. "And I do _not_ have fire breath afterwards!"

This went on for hours until Gray realized he was supposed to meet his girlfriend, Juvia, an hour ago. "Shit, I got go! My girlfriend is waiting!" (turns out she wasn't waiting, but that's a story for later) "Fucking loser." Natsu said under his breath. Then he realized he had a shit-ton of work to do. And it was he, in fact, who was the 'Fucking loser'. So he got his calm, cool attitude back on and waked out.

* * *

Lucy was walking toward her cute, cozy, little apartment, when suddenly the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Immediately, she dropped to the ground and used her leg to sweep the person behind her.

If there had been no person, it sure as hell would have been embarrassing, but, she wasn't trained half-assed and the man behind her fell to the floor. She stomped on his stomach and then Lucy Kicked him. Hard. The kick sent him flying backwards into an alley and into some convient rusted, metal trash cans. She smirked, "Princess? I think not." Then she heard sirens and had a moment of panic before realizing, _'Wait a minute... I'm a spy!'_ and she slipped into the shadows.


	3. Chapter 3

**Third Person POV**

The next morning Lucy entered The Base at 6:00 just like any other day. Little did she know, she was being watched.

* * *

"Natsu great report! You too Lucy! I'm really impressed with the structure of your writing since you're new to the job." praised Erza.

"Yeah, but I always do this. Why praise me know?" Natsu said, adding a smart-ass tone to his voice.

Erza rolled her eyes. "Because I know you would complain if I only praise Lucy."

"That's not true!" defended Natsu.

Erza sighed. "Anyways, at 7:30 this morning, you'll be on a plane to LA. Once you're there, I expect you to find the group on your own. So suit up, grab your luggages, and meet me back here by 6:33. Is that understood?"

"Yes mam!" Lucy said obediently.

"M'kay." said Natsu, way less obediently.

 _'Honestly,'_ thought Erza, after the pair had left, _'Why do I even keep him around?'_

* * *

 _'6:32? Omygod! I'm gonna be late! I'm gonna be late!'_ Lucy pushed the double doors that led to Erza's office open. No sooner than she ran in, a timer started going off.

 _'She actually set a timer?!'_ thought Lucy, her mind once again wandering.

"Heartfilia. You're late."

"Um, actually, I was here at least a millisecond before the timer went off, soooo..."

"Luce, just stop trying to make excuses and come over here." said Natsu who, miraculously, arrived before her.

 _'Luce?!'_ thought both Erza and Lucy.

Lucy turned towards Natsu and his face got as red as his reputation would allow. He looked her up and down, noticing the way her tight suit showed off her curves, ass, and breasts.

And Lucy might have noticed if she wasn't busy doing the same thing to him. _'Damnnnn! Is it getting hot in here or what?'_ thought Lucy, mentally fanning herself.

All the while, Erza watched the exchange unnoticed (again) and let her mind wander to her own blue haired lover. _'Come on Erza,'_ she thought, _'Pull yourself together! He's off on a mission. That you assigned him to. In Asia. And it's all your fault. You wont ever be able to touch his soft hair or his full lips or his perf- Damn it Erza! Snap out of it!'_

While Erza battled with her mind, Natsu and Lucy continued checking each other out. Long story short, the plane mysteriously ended up leaving 27 and a half minutes late.

* * *

 **Natsu's POV**

She's cute when she sleeps. I don't know why, but this girl's head always falls on my shoulder. Even when I move it. Not that I mind. She's probably cuter than Lisanna. No. She's not. Lisanna was an angel. Literally. Oh shit. Why did I think that? Now I'll go all badass /hardcore mode. Any mention of Lisanna makes me do that. I miss her. I miss her so _damn_ much.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Sooo? Whatcha think?

Please leave a review and if you have any ideas I _might_ make it happen. So yeah.

Remember: Constructive criticism. Always helps. So leave a review. And point out any grammar/spelling errors. . Thanks... This is awkward. *yells 'I'm sorry!' in Aries's voice*


	4. Chapter 4

**Lucy's POV**

It's like I'm not even here. I swear to god I could be invisible, 'cause Natsu's is acting like a total stranger. He's wearing dark sunglasses- inside the airport! *rolls eyes*- and a tight gray shirt that showed off his muscles. On top of that, a black leather jacket. Like honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he had shipped a motorcycle to L.A with him. And don't get me started with the crowds of giggling girls. Seriously. Don't.

So, here I am, struggling -with my luggages- to catch up with him. I'm dodging and weaving past love-sick teenage girls, and trust me, it couldn't be worst. Or so I thought...

* * *

 **Natsu's POV**

I sort of feel bad for Little Miss Princess over there. Her luggages are really heavy (most likely stuffed with beauty products that she doesn't even need- though I'm never telling her that.) and her fat ass is probably weighing her down. Nevertheless, I keep walking. Looking like a girlfriend-steeling douche to the boys and a hot, badass rebel to the girls. Why, you might ask, am I doing this? Because I thought of _her_ and my last promise to her. Lisanna was my angel, better-half, and partner. I trusted her and she trusted me. That was her final mistake. The one that ended her life.

 ***Flashback***

"Natsu! Help me! Where are you? You said you'd be here!" she called to him. One last desperate cry for help.

Smoke was everywhere and guns were being fired non-stop. There were explosions in the background and every other thing in movie's that made you roll your eyes. Meanwhile, Natsu was struggling with the bomb and Lisanna was drowning.

Two FTSA agents walked into the Russian Triple's headquarters that morning. One agent made it out.

 ***End Flashback***

* * *

 **Lucy's POV**

The very next moment I was falling. Then rolling, then rolling into a stand. Then finding myself right into the arms of The Salamander. Embarrassing, right? Here I was- an FTSA agent- telling myself I was not a damsel in distress and what happens? I act like a total damsel in distress. In front of Natsu freaking Dragneel. The badass/playboy/top dog/well, you get the idea. Why, you may ask, I fell in the first place? Unfortunately for you, I asked the same question. And, so did Natsu.

The both of us looked back to find a cute teenager (notice I said cute and not hot) with his foot out. My interpretation of the situation? He tripped me expecting me -and my boobs- to fall into him. What I did was drop my luggages (causing alarm in the area), ninja roll (causing everybody to stare at me and jump back. Also causing the people behind them to jump back. And the people behind them. And the people behind them. An- well, once again, you get the idea.), then "fall" into the arms of, once again, NATSU FREAKING DRAGNEEL (causing my reputation to drop dramatically).

So, I walk up to the boy, and demand him to pick up my luggages. He doesn't budge. I give him my Lucy Glare. Fortunately for him, he gets moving. (All the while Natsu is actually waiting for me! I feel sooo special.(A/N catch the sarcasm)) Then he carries my stuff to the curb (after a couple Lucy Glares) where I call a taxi and I- I mean he- puts my stuff into the trunk. He misses his flight. Sucks for him. Bitch.

* * *

Natsu and I arrive at our apartment at 7:56 pm. It was actually a pretty nice room. It was really modern and looked expensive. There was two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a living room. I couldn't help but notice there was only one bedroom. At least he has couch and not the floor. At same time we both step into the doorway of the one-and only- bedroom.

"Um.. What are you doing?' I ask (these are our first words since the plane).

"What are you doing? I'm going to sleep."

"If you're sleeping then why aren't you heading to the couch?" I see where this is going.

"You can sleep on the couch, but I ain't touching that thing."

"Well sucks for you because your douchey ass isn't touching _my_ bed."

"Your bed?! When did we decide that? I'm sorry, cause looks like Little Miss _Princess_ isn't getting what she wants."... WHAT DID HE JUST SAY? Oh he's gonna pay all right.

My body moved on it's own as I made to punch him. He blocked. I punched, he blocked. I kicked, he dodged. My vision suddenly cleared up. His body was graceful, yet fierce. Like a lion. But he hadn't even tried to hit me back. And, as much as I hate to say it, he was winning. I had a feeling I hadn't seen anything yet. So, knowing that I wouldn't win _this_ battle like so, I quickly stepped back inside the room, shut the door, and locked it.

Lucy: 1 Natsu: 0

* * *

There was banging on my door until three in the fucking morning. I hate him.

* * *

I showered and got ready for the day. We had work to do. As soon as I opened my door, I took back my previous words. (A/N -I hate him-) There he was, only in his boxers, sleeping peacefully on the couch. All traces of 'asshole' was wiped from his face. Involuntary (I swear!), my eyes traveled down his body. My face got red but I continued to stare. His body was beautiful. There were sharp angles and muscles everywhere and his tan skin topped it all off.

Finally, I was able to take my eyes of him. Lucky for me too, because just then Natsu decided to wake up.

* * *

 **Natsu's POV**

I knew she was staring at me. I could feel it. But I let her, I told myself it was only for payback from when she slept on the plane, but on the inside, I knew it was different- that _she_ was different. I heard her walk a couple feet away from the couch so I decided to "wake up".

She looked back at me, her face still tinged with red. "Hey, get up. We have work to do." I smiled at her.

* * *

 **Lucy's POV**

After he gave me that toothy grin, I knew I couldn't help but feel attracted to him. I knew he had a past with Lisanna (A.K.A Lasagna. Don't ask me. I don't know.) and I had a suspicion that that's what made him a playboy, badass, and, a total dick. But I knew he had another side to him. So, I'm going to try to do the impossible. Right now I have a new mission. Objective: Changing His Ways.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Oh. My. God. Did you see what I did there? With the title? I feel special.

Anyways, someone asked for longer chapters (at least 1000 words) so here it is. BAM. Right there... Kay, bye!

Oh and please leave a review... and follow... and favorite? M'kay! ily bye!


	5. Author's Note

**Author's Note**

So this chapter is really an author's note... I'm sorry. I have a poll on my profile to see whether or not Lucy should have a bad past. I got a suggestion from MiyuMelody and I wanted to see what the rest of you wanted. So visit my profile and vote. Also, on a side note, it might take me longer to update. I'm making longer and hopefully more detailed chapters. Thanks for all follows and favorites :) ily bye!


	6. Chapter 5

**Lucy's POV**

The city during the day is beautiful, but nothing compared to it at night. Lights could be seen from miles away and tall buildings reaching the clouds stood proud. We decided to walk around the city till 4:00 pm so we could find our way around for the rest of our stay here (who knows how long that's gong to take). After four- when it began to get dark- we started to get to work.

We walked back to our apartment. Why not start with the internet? Everybody thinks that there is no way someone will see this. Its one post in a billion... right? Wrong.

* * *

"The apartment is five more blocks away." he said as I stopped at an ice cream stand.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I know. Do you want anything?" I pulled out my wallet.

"No."

"Fine by me. One vanilla, please." I told the ice cream man.

"Is that all?"

"Ye-"

"Chocolate." Natsu interrupted.

I giggled. Silly boy. "You don't always have to be so macho you know." I turned back to the man. "A chocolate too please."

He gave me the order and I payed him. "Thank you." I smiled

"Thanks." Natsu said gruffly.

I couldn't stand it any longer. My self-control ran out. I burst out laughing. I probably looked like I was crying. I had tears running down my face. I fell on the floor, laughing. "AHAAHAHAAHAHA!" Natsu was probably looking at me like I was a freak. I looked back up at him. Yup a freak- wait a minute... is that some fear I see? I burst out laughing yet again. "You're-" I broke up giggling again. I continued through my laughter. "So serious! And- and so _gruff._ " I said the last part in a deep tone- mimicking his own voice.

"Are you alright?!" the ice cream man asked worriedly.

"Yes, she's fine." Natsu answered for me after realizing the reason for my laughter.

"Um are you sure?"

* * *

 **Natsu's POV**

I looked back at the once laughing maniac. She was pouting looking down at her foot. She had a piece of glass embedded in it.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, who's fault is it for wearing sandals?"

"DAMN IT, IT HURTS!" she said with tears in her eyes.

I sighed and scooped her off the ground- bridal style- after throwing away our forgotten ice cream cones.

She sniffled and cocked her head to the side. "What are you doing?"

"You have a piece of glass in your foot. We'll need tweezers to take it out now. And, at the moment, you can't put any pressure on it. I will _not_ wait for you to hop five blocks."

"Hey! I can hop fairly well!"

"It doesn't matter how well you can fucking hop!"

She huffed and crossed her arms. "Fine."

* * *

We were one more block away from our apartment (though I feel like it's mostly hers) when I noticed my arms were starting to hurt.

"You're heavy." I told her without thinking.

"Excuse me?!" she said exasperated.

"It's not my fault you have fat ass!" Wait... Did I just say-? Ah, shit! No sooner than I realized what I said, Lucy turned her body so she faced me, and slapped me.

I stopped in place. "Damn it Lucy, that hurt! Shi-! Hey, are you blushing?" I smirked a little (despite the pain) at the girl in her.

"You are too, except... That's weird. It's in the shape of a handprint." she replied with faked innocence. "Hmm, wonder why."

"Do you now? I'll get you back for this..." Then I dropped the tone of my voice a little so it sounded a bit scary. "You wont know when. You wont know how. You wont know what. But, you _will_ know wh-"

Lucy clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes. "So cliché."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Saying that is cliché."

"Pshh, whatever. Let's just hurry up and get home- you forget, I have a shard of glass nested inside my fucking foot!"

Oops. I totally forgot about that. "Yeah, yeah. I know." I mumbled. I readjusted her and my hand skimmed part of her bare leg. My face heated up, but I told myself it was just because of her earlier slap.

* * *

 **Third Person POV**

As soon as Natsu and Lucy got back to the apartment, all hell broke loose.

* * *

"AHHAHHHAHHH!" Lucy screamed while frantically hopping around the couch, Natsu in tow.

"Get back here, you idiot!"

"NOOO! I WILL NEVER RE-ENTER YOUR CLUTCHES!"

When Natsu and Lucy got back to the apartment, Natsu tried to pull out the piece of glass in her foot. Unfortunately for the both of them, it hurt like a bitch. So, back to the present, Natsu was chasing Lucy around the couch with a pair of tweezers in hand, while Lucy hopped on one foot around the couch.

Finally, Natsu decided to tackle Lucy onto the couch.

"You were right," he breathed, his face dangerously close to her own. "You do excel in hopping." he joked with a smile.

Lucy gasped, "He _is_ human!"

"Ha ha ha." he replied with a role of his eyes.

"Although, I do have to say, that tackle was admirable."

At the same time, they noticed their position. "Um, sorry." said Natsu as he scrambled off of her, both their faces tinged with red.

"OH MY GOD!" screamed Lucy.

"What?!" Natsu asked, pulling out his gun, suddenly alert and serious.

"The Great and Mighty Salamander is... embarrassed! His face is red and he is currently at a loss for words!" Lucy cried reporter-style.

"Ahh! Baka! I thought you saw a killer or something! You're so stupid! Haven't you ever heard of the boy who cried wolf?!" As he rambled on, attempting to defend himself from his own idiocy, Lucy lay there giggling, eyes closed and brimming with tears.

Natsu stopped speaking as a sudden realization hit him. He smiled devilishly and smirked. Tweezers still in hand, he snuck over to Lucy's foot that lay innocently on the couch. And quickly grasped onto the piece of glass with the tweezers and...pulled.

"FUCCKKKKKKK!" she glared at Natsu through teary eyes. "YOU BITCH!"

* * *

 **Lucy's POV**

After a while of hacking sites and stalking profiles, Natsu and I gathered a list of possible hideouts and bases. We both threw on our suits then baggy (but still casual) clothes over them. Then we checked out each and every base.

Many hours pasted until Natsu and I decided to call it a day (at one in the morning!). That is, until we saw some suspicious creep spying on us from an alley.

You see, an agent at FTSA has helped us out on our mission a bit. Her name is Levy (A.K.A Bookworm). She's a total nerd. But, she owed Natsu a favor and made this case a bit easier for us. The Bookworm made us, or rather our files, into escaped criminals. According to our records, we were put in the ADX Florence, the most secure prison on the world. Located in Colorado, prisoners were lucky to see a glimpse of sun during their time there.

Anyways, we were said to be the master bomb builders of the 1st World Trade Center Bombing. Long story short, every important criminal wants us now. We can top off all their master plans, we can help with an escape plan, and, most importantly, we can build their bombs.

"6:30" I whispered to Natsu, still walking down the street casually.

"More like 6:42, but whatever." he replies, without looking, and rolled his eyes.

"Shut up!" I hissed back at him. "You think he was sent by The Big Bang?"

"I don't know. There's always a possibility he is just a thief or drug dealer looking for pray. I say we run out of here. If they want us enough- that'll be the big guns- they'll come find us. If they decide we're not worth it, no harm done."

"Well I disagree. I say we confront him and start beating him up- or start to anyways. Then, if he was sent by one of the big guns, we'll impress them. And if he fights back we'll also know he's not a druggie. Knowing how to fight is always good in a criminal life. And if he loses to us... bye-bye for him. Weak links aren't welcomed in their corrupt world."

I must've said that with passion, because he replied curiously with, "And you know this how?" he hit nerve. He doesn't know yet, but he hit it.

"It doesn't matter. Let's go." Emotions and images of my past started to run through me even as I tried to push them down. I felt tears swell up and my head began to hurt and I knew if something didn't change soon...something bad might happen. I don't like thinking back to _those_ days. Ever.

* * *

 **Natsu's POV**

I have a feeling I did something bad. Really bad. I don't know what I said, but her face grew sad, angry, and troubled. Like I hit some kind of nerve. What's wrong with her? Maybe she's just jealous that my plan is better... Even though hers is clearly the right one...

"Ok. Let's go." I told her. She raised an eyebrow. "Confront him. You win." She smiled at me the moment I said that. Her face cleared up and she was looking like regular ol' Lucy again. Long, shiny blond hair. Soft skin, chocolate brown eyes, and her cute and tiny button nose.

* * *

 **Lucy's POV**

What can I say? I like having my way.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Sorry this took so long to post. I had to wait for the poll and I also was busy writing this thing **and** doing research **and** editing. I was looking at prisons in Europe before I discovered the ADX Florence. So please leave a review. Thanks ily!

And on a side note, I will probably mash two chapters together so I can get the numbers to match. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, ignore this.


	7. Chapter 6 and 7

**Natsu's POV**

We turned our heads slowly towards the creep so he would have enough time to hide behind a building. As soon as he ducked his head into the alley, Lucy and I ran to the building then sprinted along the wall- very much like ninjas if I do say so myself.

He peeked his head out to see if we were still watching and his bugged out in surprise when he noticed how close we were. Lucy used this time to sneak past him so she was blocking his exit. Smart girl.

When I advanced forward, he took a step back right into Lucy. He turned back to me and Lucy pulled out her knife. ' _Scare him.'_ she mouthed. I smiled evilly and reached for my knife, but I stopped when I saw the stranger's face. Instead of being full of confusion and fear. His face held a smirk.

In one swift movement, he jumped up and toward the left, bouncing off each wall until he was rhythmically moving quickly upwards.

My eyes darted to Lucy, sending her a silent message that she thankfully understood, _'Follow him!'._ My eyes darted upwards and she nodded then literally ripped off her causal clothing and followed him to the roof . I, on the other hand, started sprinting along below the pair (after taking off my casual clothing and revealing my suit, of course). _'Good luck Lucy!'_ I thought.

* * *

 **Lucy's POV**

I mentally promised myself to thank my trainer Mira for making me go through all those leg exercises. If my legs were even a tiny bit weaker, I wouldn't have made it to the top.

When I looked up I saw that the man was already sprinting toward the edge. Despite the weariness in my legs, I rolled my eyes and got up. Then I too, ran toward the edge. _'All this just to impress his bosses?!'_ I thought.

As I jumped from rooftop to rooftop, I saw a flash of pink hair. _'Natsu...'._ I hadn't even realized the weight on my shoulders until they lifted. Why was I worried? All he had to do was run. I'm the one in danger of falling every two seconds. Nevertheless, I was always relieved to see a flash of pink in between buildings.

I snapped out of my thoughts as I saw the stranger make a sudden turn in direction. My eyes traveled ahead of the man to what I presume was the coffee shop he was heading for. I smirked. If he jumped down to the low coffee shop, he would probably also jump to the ground and off the roofs completely...and straight to Natsu.

* * *

 **Natsu's POV**

"Lucyyy. Come on Lucy, where are you?" I mumbled to myself. I gave a sigh of relief when I saw her leap from the rooftop.

I looked up at the space between the two buildings beside me. Lucy was not there. I slowed down. Lucy was not there. I stopped completely. Once again, Lucy never jumped. I turned around... just in time to see the man leap from a tall building onto a small coffee shop. _'_

 _Shit!'_ I sprinted back to the coffee shop. Unfortunately, because of the loss of momentum and the wasted backtracking time, he was able to dodge the both of us and dart into a second alley. On the other hand Lucy and I were able to reunite.

"You good?" I asked her breathlessly.

"Yup. You?" she replied in the same manner.

"Great." I huffed.

Surprisingly Lucy was able to keep up with me just fine. _'Probably because of those damn legs of hers.'_ I thought, remembering the strength of her kicks.

The alley in front of us opened up to reveal a fenced up clearing. The man was turned toward us and although the smirk on his face was gone, he showed no signs of fear. _'I guess he wasn't the one to read our files.'_ Then it was my turn to smirk.

Suddenly, my instincts made me turn to the side. A dart (most likely tipped with poison) flew past me. I noticed his hand bended back so I looked closer at his wrist and saw a tube protruding from his sleeve. Then it was his time to smirk.

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

* * *

 **Natsu's POV**

I looked back at Lucy and we shared a silent conversation:

 _'Should we use weapons?'_ Lucy asked

 _'No. We just came from prison, remember?'_

 _'Yeah but we_ are _wearing these suits. It's a little obvious they didn't come from a jail cell.'_

 _'True... But we better not. Let them teat our skill in hand-to-weapon combat. Besides, even if the darts touched us, it wouldn't be able to penetrate our suits.'_

 _'Okay... Then let's do this!'_

Without any warning whatsoever, Lucy and I attacked. And I haven't seen anything more beautiful.

She moved with grace and agility, even while dealing attacks. She was quick and had pretty fast reflexes. Then I saw the stranger bend his hand back- exposing the wrist- and I snapped back to reality. Lucy spotted it too and her eyes grew wide and frightened. I looked at the stranger and I was mad that he made her look that way. _No one hurts my Lucy._

* * *

 **Lucy's POV**

I felt Natsu staring at me as I fought, but to be honest, I didn't care- I was just scared out of my mind, this is my first mission after all. I felt my body moving out of reflex more than pure thought.

And then I saw the dart. Aimed straight for my neck- my unprotected neck. I froze. I hated myself for doing it, but I did. ' _Come on Lucy! Snap out of it!'_ I thought, but my body wouldn't move. All my senses, other than my sight, shut down. Natsu looked at me and in his eyes I saw what can only be described accurately as a burning fire. Although, as I looked closer, I could've sworn I saw the figure of a dragon... That's crazy though. Right?

I can't really describe what happened next- it all went by too quickly- but one moment I was staring death in the eyes and the next, well, death was being pinned down by Natsu. Then faster than a single blink, Natsu pulled his fist back and punched him square in the nose. As I regained my senses, I heard a crack and could only guess it was the sound of his breaking nose. That was the only thing I could hear on this quiet night. Well, that and the sirens.

"Natsu! We need to get out of here!"

"..."

"Natsu?" I asked softly. The sirens were getting louder. "Natsu, we need to leave!"

"Yeah. Yeah, ok."

* * *

 **Natsu's POV**

What's wrong with me? After I saw Lucy's panicked face something came over me. All I saw was red. I had no control over my body whatsoever. Next thing I knew, my fist connected with the mans face and Lucy was calling my name, telling me to go. This only happened to me one other time...

"Lisanna..." I murmured.

"What was that Salamander?"

"I uh, uh, um.. nothing." Oh great! She witnesses yet another Natsu Dragneel Fail.

"I'm sorry what? I didn't hear you over all that stuttering."

"Sorry, Miss Sassy Pants, I don't feel like playing." _Lisanna. Lisanna. Lisanna. Lisanna._

"Miss Sassy Pants? Really? I'm almost positive The Salamander," she air quoted, "Can come up with a better comeback than that."

"Well, I'm sorry. I fucking can't!" I snapped at her.

"..."

I sighed, "Lucy, I'm-"

"Miss Sassy Pants was better than, 'I fucking can't'. In fact you just admitted that you sucked at comebacks. So thanks for that."

"Un-fucking-believable." I said with a sigh.

"What? My hair? I know. It's gorgeous." she replied in a sarcastic, conceited kind of way.

I smirked. Time for a different angle. "I couldn't agree more." I said, my tone deep as I twirled her hair around my finger. "It's... breathtaking." Lucy turned and looked away blushing and stuttering. Then I put my hand on her back at slowly brought it lower. Lucy stiffened. I was about to continue when Lucy side kicked me and screeched, "PERVERT!" Then ran to the apartment alone, leaving me clutching my stomach.

"I was just kidding Luce!... Oh and-" I stopped realizing she couldn't hear me.

"I have the keys, Baka..." I muttered.

* * *

 **Authors Note**

I apologize. I am so very sorry. My computer broke and I had to replace the hard drive. And because of the wait I lost the flash drive where I keep my documents. On top of that I went to two five day summer camps and wasn't able to work on the story there. And, of course, i'll have to run this through my sister, Nia, who pretty much criticizes my work and deems my papers worthy or unworthy. Please review and give me any ideas and/or criticism you have! Once again I. Am. Truly. Sorry. ILYSM ;*

Guest User Lucy: I will try to update at least once a week, but... I mean... life.

Baka- stupid, fool(ish)


	8. Chapter 8

**Lucy's POV**

 _Fires blinded my sight and smoke filled my lungs. I could hear only explosions and smell the stench of burning flesh. I somehow knew I was the last one alive. I quickly jumped backward as a bomb dropped directly in front of me. I turned to run when the explosion pushed me forward-right into the arms of-_

I woke up gasping, my whole body shaking. I was covered in sweat and tears were running wildly down my face.

Then all of a sudden, Natsu burst in, a worried look plastered on his face. He gasped from shock at my state. Natsu ran forward and enveloped me in his arms.

I sniffled with my head resting on his shoulder-mildly embarrassed. "I take it playboy Natsu is gone." I said through tears.

"Luce, what happened?" he asked- completely ignoring my question.

I rolled my eyes. "Nothing I'm fine." I wasn't getting out of this.

"Lucy! What the hell just happened?!" His face a mixture of anger and confusion.

What the hell?! I'm crying, and something is obviously wrong, and he snaps at me? "I already told you!" I snapped back. "It was nothing."

He backed up and put his hands on my shoulders, his onyx eyes boring into mine. Under different circumstances I would've melted into his eyes, but his eyes weren't giving me the playful look I'm used to. Instead he was dead serious.

I blushed and looked away- not being able to bear his gaze any longer. "Itwasaboutmypastokay?" I mumbled. I expected him to be confused and ask me to repeat my answer, in fact I drew in a breath to tell him more slowly, but, when I looked up, his face had softened and his eyes were sympathetic. He pulled me back into a hug.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

"No."

"Okay." And we just sat there, thinking. About our past, future, or whatever else happened to be troubling us at the moment. We didn't speak nor did we pry into each other's past. It wasn't as much as a romantic gesture as it was a friendly one.

Somewhere within the next couple of hours I drifted off to sleep. When the sun rose and I woke up, I found myself tucked in and other the covers while Natsu slept peacefully on the couch.

* * *

 **Natsu's POV**

I woke up in the middle of the night, my sensitive ears picking up Lucy's gasps. When I barged into her room, I was utterly shocked at her state. She was terrified. I went on autopilot and scooped her up in my arms without a second thought.

I heard her breathing steadily after an hour or so and figured she fell asleep. I shifted her back into a sleeping position and pulled the blanket over her. It was when I saw her _really_ short pajama shorts and her tight tank top that I froze. It took all the willpower I had to exit the room and calm myself down.

After my own breathing slowed, I lay on the couched rethinking Lucy's words over and over again. _'"I take it playboy Natsu is gone?'"_ I couldn't help but wonder if that was true.

* * *

 **Lucy's POV**

"I don't know. I guess we should just write our reports for now since The Big Bang is most likely watch our every move." I told him.

It was about an hour since we both got up and both Natsu and I still haven't gotten ready for the day, in fact I was still in my "whore shorts" (as Natsu called it) and he in his boxers (which I had complained about). We were to busy forming a plan to change.

Fortunately, neither Natsu nor I would bring up the "activity" that took place last night- we were both tired from the lack of sleep.

"Yeah, okay, I'll go type mine up now." He told me. Awesome. He'll be occupied for the next 40/45 minutes or so.

I walked back into "my" room while he went to grab his laptop from his luggage that was laying carelessly on the floor. I shut the door quietly and got dressed faster that I thought I had in me. When I exited the room, Natsu was still rummaging through his disaster of a "room". But, when I turned the door nob, Natsu's sensitive ears picked up the 'click'.

"Where ya going?" he said, looking up.

"Um, well, since you're gonna be busy for a while, I decided to go shopping for an hour or so."

"..."

"..."

"I'm coming too." He told me firmly.

"Natsu, no. I want to go by myself." I told him in the same tone. "Besides, you still have to write your report."

"So do you." He countered.

"I wrote mine last night before bed."

"Well... you're not my mom and I want t-"

"Natsu! I'm going to be shopping for clothes for an hour straight! Ask yourself again. Do you, Natsu Dragneel, really _want_ to come?"

Natsu paused in thought. "Do you, Lucy Heartfilia, really think I'd waste all this time arguing if I didn't?"

He got me. "Fine." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Yosh! Thanks Luce!" _Yosh?_

Natsu got up to follow me out the door, but I stopped him. "Natsu... your pants..."

"Oh yeah." He said, obviously confused. "Where did I put those?" He mumbled while trying to find pants. As he fumbled around for pants, I couldn't help but wonder what version of Natsu I'd be seeing: playboy, badass, or sweet?

* * *

"Natsu!" I called as I looked over my shoulder. "Hurry up!"

"Luuuce! Your bags are so heavy though!" He whined.

"You're the one who offered to carry them in the first place!" I turned around, putting my hands on my hips.

"That was before you decided to waste your life savings on clothes!"

I rolled my eyes. "Stop being so dramatic. Let's go to the next shop already! It's getting really hot." And it was. The temperature must've been in the high 80's or low 90's. Hmmm... "Hey, Natsu, we should go to the beach today!" His face immediately brightened up. But then it fell again.

"I didn't bring my trunks..." He said quietly then paused and looked around. His eyes stopped at a shop directly across from us. "Lucy!" He said excitedly and grabbed my hand. "They sell swimsuits over there!" He pointed to the store and pulled me along. But I wasn't listening. All I could do was stare at our linked hands and wonder how he does it so easily. Well that and how I can stop my face from getting any redder.

 _'He has probably done the same thing to dozens of other girls. You're no different.'_ I told myself. Unfortunately, the way that my heartbeat was threatening to fall out of my chest and the goosebumps on my arm in 90 degree weather, tell a different story. _'Damn it, Natsu! Why do you do this to me?'_

* * *

 **Natsu's POV**

 _'Damn it, Lucy! Why do you this to me? I must've held hands with hundreds of other girls. In fact, compared to my lifestyle, this doesn't even scratch the surface of_ my _modern romance! This should mean nothing to me!'_ But it did. I could tell because as soon as I made contact with Lucy's hand, not even the hottest girl in a bikini made me look away from our linked hands.

* * *

 **Third Person POV**

Lucy and Natsu both entered the shop, both unaware of their undivided hands.

"Hi! My name is Jenny Realight! How can I be of service?" The register said, surprising both Lucy and Natsu with her jumpy kindness.

"Uh... hi." Lucy said to the blond-haired beauty, snapping out of her shock before the very confused-looking Natsu. "We're just grabbing some swimsuits really quick..."

"Oh. Ok." Jenny looked down and saw their linked hands. "Oh!" She said excitedly. "I can get you two matching swimwear!"

"..."

"If you want."

"..."

"Seeing that you're together and everything." Jenny explained to the confused customers while she pointed to their joined hands.

Lucy immediately dropped her hands and blushed. "We're not together!" She shrieked while other customers stared at the pair.

"Oh, sorry then!' Jenny replied brightly. "It was easy to mistake you guys! You look so cute together. In my defense you are carrying her bags." She said turning to (on) Natsu. Then she gaped shamelessly at him and ogled his toned body. During her open-mouth "observation" of Natsu, Lucy sat there angrily while Natsu smirked proudly.

"Hey!" Lucy said, snapping her fingers sassily in the love-struck cashiers face. "Can you tell me where to find my size?" She sighed.

Dragging her eyes oh-so very slowly off Natsu, she turned back to Lucy and took ten seconds out of her day to literally size Lucy up. "You'll find your size in the back." Jenny replied hastily before turning back to Natsu. "And what can I help you find?" She purred while batting her eyelashes. Scoffing, Lucy turned her back on the two and walked off to find something in her size- knowing very much why the green little goblin (A.K.A Jealousy) was paying her a visit.

* * *

 **Lucy's POV**

 _'Whore. Slut. Slutty whore... bitch. Little bitchy slut whore. Ooo! I like the sound of that one!'_ I shamelessly thought. Who did that bitch think she was, flirting with my ma- friend like that? "My name is Jenny!" I mimicked quietly. "And I'm a little bitch!" And then I did a series of high pitched girly giggles that made heads turn.

"Natsu that flirtati- Ooo! That's a cute one!" I said, spying a white bikini with a pink flower in the corner. I smiled as I walked toward it, praying it would be in my size (which I usually have to get specially made- not to brag or anything). No such luck. I hunted hopelessly through the rack once more with the same level of success.

As I prepared to give up, I noticed one lying on the floor. I picked it up and... nope. I let out a frustrated groan.

But, the luck god must've just showed because as I walked dejectedly towards Natsu, I saw a woman with _very_ large breasts put the _exact_ same bikini I searched recklessly for, on a random shelf. I couldn't help myself. I literally dove for it... just to get it lifted dreadfully out of my reach by a pair of tan hands.

"Ouch." I moaned.

"Luce? What are you doing on the floor?" Natsu asked while faking innocence.

"I hate you." I mumbled into the floor. "Let's just go already."

"Can't wait to leave?"

I ignored his question and started to get up.

"Is it because of the Little bitchy slut whore?"

I froze. "What did you just say?"

"Don't worry, Luce. No one can steal me from you." He said giving me a toothy grin that showed off his sharp canines and made my heart quicken and my cheeks warm. _'How can he say those things so carelessly? Sometimes he can go from being an innocent sweetheart to a complete dick.'_ I thought, unconsciously ruining the moment for myself.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Hope you like it! I didn't get a chance to edit this... so sorry. Anyway, I'm gonna be camping for a bit so my update may take longer. Please review! Thx! Ily!

\- Jenny Realight is the model from Blue Pegasus-


	9. Chapter 9

**Lucy's POV**

"Sweet home Alabama!" Natsu obnoxiously sang with the radio of our rental car as we drove to the beach.

"Natsu, be quiet." I warned him.

"Where the skies are so blue!" He sings with his eyes closed.

"Natsu. Last warning."

He looked at me and grinned as the words approached.

"SWEET HOME ALABAMA!"

I jerked the wheel to the right in one sudden movement and Natsu hit his head forcefully on the window.

"DAMN IT, NATSU! SHUT TH HELL UP!"

"WHAT THE FUCK, LUCY? THAT HURT!"

"WE HAVE LESS THAN TEN MINUTES LEFT AND I WANT TO SPEND IT QUIETLY!"

"FINE! AT LEAST I WONT HAVE TO LISTEN TO YOUR ANNOYING VOICE!"

"LIKEWISE!"

"Who the fuck even says likewise anymore?" Natsu said with confusion.

"I the fuck do!" I yelled, still pissed at the annoying voice comment.

Awkward silence.

I sighed and got back into the lane and began driving again.

* * *

 **5 minutes later**

 _Tap, tap. Tap-pity tap tap._

I looked over to the passenger seat, only to find the pink haired idiot tapping rhythmically on the dashboard.

"Five minutes, Natsu. Five minutes of silence." I told dead quiet with my eyes dark.

He gulped, "Yes, ma'am."

* * *

 **Natsu's POV**

I jumped excitedly out of the car, "FREEDOM!"

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Lucy roll her eyes, but who cares- she doesn't know of my killer car sickness. Seriously, even with years and years of training, I can still feel the urge to vomit every time I'm on any form of transportation. Thankfully, only Titania and The She-Devil, know of my weakness.

I kissed the ground out of pure joy. "I...I think... I think I'm in love." I announced dramatically.

Lucy sighed, "I'm going to change." She looked around for a moment before pointing to a large tree by the water. "I'll meet you over there, kay?"

"Yeah, okay." I mumbled into the ground without looking up.

* * *

 **Lucy's POV**

 _'Damn it, Natsu! Where are you?'_ I thought while searching for that palm tree. Just after I brought out my phone to text him, I found the tree that overlooked the beach and brought shade to the incomers, on top of that, I saw a tuff of pink hair sticking out from behind the tree.

I approached the tree with a bright smile on my face. I felt a little guilty for taking a break so early in the mission, but the day was just perfect. I truly believed not a thing in this world could ruin today. Until I reached the peaceful palm tree.

Natsu and a beautiful woman with dark brown hair stood entangled in each others arms, deep in a passionate make out- seconds away from ripping each others clothes off. "Natsu." she whispered, staring wide at me -not bothering to stop her hot kisses from traveling down his neck. "Canaaa." He moaned back, oblivious of my presence- much less of my gaping mouth and horrified state.

 _'I'm gonna punch her in the face. Break her nose. Punch her in the face. Break her nose. Punch her. Break her nose. Punch her. Break her nose.'_ I repeat in my head, my fists clenching until they turn white. I take a step to do just that, but the girl in me completely breaks down. I can't hold back the sobs from coming as I turn and run while chocking on my own pathetic tears.

"Lucy!" He yells desperately, but I can't bring myself to stop and speak to him. I was ashamed and hurt. I was ashamed for crying and... just plain hurt. Hurt even though he isn't mine. Hurt even though he's the same jackass who left me at the airport. Hurt because he's still the same person who carried me through the night without a seconds hesitation. So I run. I push my legs sore until I'm lost and my lungs burn and my throat dries. Still, the tears come. The tears come and I'm not able to stop them. Thus, I sit down against an old shop and bawl my stupid, girly, eyes out as I scream into the night.

 _'Damn it, Natsu! Why do you do this to me?'_ I think, but this time, it's under less than pleasant circumstances.

* * *

 **Natsu's POV**

I messed up. I messed up bad.

"Natsu! Natsu, who was that?!" Cana yells at me, but I can barely hear her- I'm too busy staring at Lucy's retreating figure. I remember with a start, the feeling of guilt when I led the amazingly beautiful girl behind the tree and telling myself repetitively that Lucy didn't own me. I remember all my self control falling away from me when her lips touched mine. Most importantly, I remember the sound of Lucy broken voice and her hurt gasp.

"Natsu!" Cana shrieks. I break out of thought and turn back to her. She huffs and flips her hair then smiles slyly at me. "Are we gonna let her ruin our fun?" She asks with innocence.

I look at her darkly. "Get out of here."

She scoffs and furrows her eyebrows. "I didn't think yo-"

"Get the hell out of here!" I snap, angry at both myself and this woman.

She rolls her eyes and walks away (unsuccessfully) trying to hide her embarrassment.

 _'I'm so sorry, Lucy.'_ I repeat in my head as I lean against the tree.

For hours I sit there, drowning in my own sorrow as darkness comes. At midnight, I feel a buzz come from my phone. I open it hopefully, only to find four disgusting words: _I'm taking a cab._

I put my forehead against the tree, "I'm so sorry, Lucy." I whisper to myself.

* * *

 **Lucy's POV**

I give a two finger wave to the cab driver as he disappears. All of a sudden, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I begin to fall to the ground, but I hear the distinct sound of a gun cocking and I freeze. As I look towards the gun, someone puts me in a headlock. The headlock itself is easy to get out of, but then I hear a voice that makes me stagger back. A deep, oily voice that makes me want to break down. I suddenly feel useless and have the urge to cry. I pray to God he doesn't recognize me with the dark surrounding us.

Light rushes over me and I sigh in relief as I see our rental car drive towards me.

"Shit!" the man with the gun yells.

"Friday, midnight 6508 Sabortooth Street." _He_ whispers in my ear. "Unless you want to be turned in, be there." He lets go of me and the butt of a gun slams into the back of my head. As unconsciousness takes me over, I prepare for the impact, but it never comes. Instead I feel two large hands barely catch me. Just before I slip away, I look up into the onyx eyes of my savior and whisper a single name, "Jiemma."

* * *

 **Natsu's POV**

"Jiemma?! Who the hell is Jiemma?!" I ask as I check our apartment for any hints of breaking and entering. Next to me, Lucy lay on the couch looking like she's about to throw up.

"I- I don't know." She says says while avoiding my gaze.

"Lucy!" I yell sternly, "Who the fuck is Jiemma."

She turns and glares at me before averting her gaze again. "I already told you. I don't know!"

"Lucy, you said his name before you went down." I stride to her and in a heartbeat, I'm holding her chin firmly, making her face me. "Stop lying to me."

"I'm no-!"

"Look at me." Her soft, brown eyes turn slowly towards me. "Will this information help on the case?"

"No...Maybe. I don't know!" She blurts and puts her head in her hands

"Lucy, right know our top priority is this case. If you know anything that can help us, you need to speak up."

She looks away and winces."I- I can't. I'm sorry."

"Lucy, you vowed to put to give your life to the FTSA if needed. Right now, I need to know who Jiemma is and what you know about him."

She lifts her head up to me and stares me in the eyes. Her face is streaked with tears that I didn't know were falling. "Jiemma is a very bad man." She says while looking down. "He is also the... let's say, vice president, of the Big Bang." I open my mouth to speak, but she cuts me off. "Don't ask how I know, not now at least."

"Well, as long as you didn't kiss him, I think I can hold off a little bit." I say with a smile, trying to ease the tension.

Unfortunately, I don't get the exact response I'm looking for.

She glares at me. " _You_ , of all people, don't get to say that." She says venomously. " How DARE you say that to me, asshole!"

* * *

 **Lucy's POV**

"Lucy, calm down! I didn't mean it like that!" He says defensively

"I don't fucking care!"

"You know what? Fine. You want to talk about this? Let's go."

"Natsu, we went there to go to the beach and mess around, instead, you decide you feel like having sex with a complete stranger!"

"We never had sex!"

"Are you saying you weren't gonna?" I fucking saw him pulling apart her clothes!

"Even if I was, you're not my mom. You don't get to tell me what to do."

"We were supposed to go there to have fun, not so you can hook up with yet another girl! Instead, of us doing something _together_ she stole you away from me. In fact, I seem to recall you saying that _no one_ could steal you away from me."

"Yeah, well she couldn't have stolen something that was never yours."

"What do you mean?" I'm afraid of the answer.

"Me and you are partners. Nothing more." I can't help but notice he didn't say "nothing less". I also can't help but notice my face was wet. Again.

"Fuck you." I say slowly and with as much hatred as I can muster.

"Gladly."

I bring my arm back to slap him, but as I swing my arm forward, he catches my hand and smirks. "Remember? Reflexes?" At this point, I wouldn't mind his death- in fact, I welcome it.

"After we finish this mission, get the hell out of life." I say then turn on my heels and tried not to run back to my room- not forgetting to lock the door.

I lay in my bed, staring at the ceiling for an hour until I accept the fact that sleep won't come. I get out my lap top, but then an idea pops into my head and I smile.

I quickly but carefully apply my makeup, then pull on a small, tight, black item that barely qualifies as a dress. I decide my hair looks perfect without it brushed (in a wild kind of way), so I pull on knee-length, black leather boots to complete the look.

One look at my reflection and _I_ was ready to do myself. After I deemed myself worthy, I put on my golden, metal bracelets that each doubled as a taser. Finally, I open the window and escape into the night- all the while, keeping my hair looking flawless.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Natsu! *gasps* How could you? I actually didn't mean to do that... it sort of just happened... I know some of you are mad that Lucy showed weakness, but she has a girly side. Just say'in.

PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW- IT DOES NOT HURT! look i'll even make it bold

 **PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW-IT DOES NOT HURT!** tada! ***** jazz hands *****


	10. Chapter 10

**Lucy's POV**

"Blue Pegasus..." I read to myself. I look up at the pink building and metal gates. There's a balcony directly above the doorway and a rounded green roof. With the small, wooden staircase that leads to the entrance and has peeled paint, it looks like a crappy palace.

Just my style. I walk into the "fancy" club and smile. The familiar stench of sweat from dancers (A.K.A "grinders") and the sound of a professional DJ takes me way back.

I look up at the surrounding dancers and a wave of satisfaction falls over me. Every single male, has his head turned towards me. To be honest, I miss the attention. Ever since I began to hang around Natsu, all the attention was on him, mine included. But now, now I get to be carefree and wild- without a worry in the world.

I look at my choices and almost squeal. Four of the hottest guys I have ever seen, are walking in my direction. So, I do the natural female reaction: I flip my hair, smile wickedly, and beckon them over with only my eyes. And god, do I miss doing that.

"Hi!" Says a sweet looking guy. "I'm Eve. I love your hair!" Hmm. He makes me feel special.

I smile. "Lucy."

"Hey." Someone says casually. "I'm Hibiki." He takes my hand in his own." I just have to say, I spotted you from across the room and wanted to inform you of your beauty- in case you didn't notice." I almost drool.

"Lucy." I mumble and look down, blushing.

"The name's Ren." A dark skinned male says carelessly. He looks me up and down. "You're pretty hot."

Ahh, a bad boy... Just like the pink-haired idiot who makes me both laugh and cry. Nope. "Lucy. Get lost." He just gives me a disgusted look and leaves.

Then the fourth male approaches me and my panties drop. "Hey." He drawls huskily, mixing in seduction and confidence. He has spiky orange hair and glasses, not to mention his obviously expensive suit. "I'm Loke."

"Hey." I reply back while batting my eyelashes and smiling.

"Can I buy you a drink?" He asks smoothly.

I decide to play hard to get. "I don't know... I did promise these other guys a dance..."

He smiles like he knows what I'm playin' at. "I can wait." He promises. He gives me a flirtatious wink and leaves. I bite my lip. I _really_ don't feel like waiting.

Eve sticks out his elbow. He gestures to the crowd of dancers, "Shall we?"

So, we dance. It's completely appropriate with no grinding whatsoever. And It's horrible. Not at all what I'm looking for- not tonight.

I walk over to the bar- in hopes of finding Loke. I finally see him by the bar. He catches my eyes and smiles secretively. As I take my first step towards him, Hibiki blocks my way.

"Done with Eve?" He asks quickly. Then, without waiting for my answer, he demands, "Let's go."

 _'What the hell,'_ I shrug. _'It's only one dance.'_

* * *

30 minutes later of dancing against Hibiki and he's leading me towards the door. (Un)Fortunately for him, he's not my target tonight. I open my mouth to stop him, but a certain orange haired hunk, blocks Hibiki from the exit. I breathe a sigh of relief, _'Thank God.'_

"Excuse me," He says with a threatening smile. "But she promised me a drink."

"Yeah, well, she's about to go back on that promise, 'cause she wants to get out of here, don't cha Lucy?" They both look at me.

I smile sheepishly, "I wouldn't mind a drink."

"You don't know what you're missing out on." Hibiki says in an attempt to persuade me.

"..." I turn to Loke. "Any chance you can score us some seats?"

"He grins and take my hand."Follow me." And I do, leaving Hibiki to stare at my open-backed dress.

* * *

 **Third Person POV**

Natsu's sensitive ears pick up on the cars passing by that are louder than normal. His eyes snap open. He sighs. _'Lucy must've opened her window.'_

* * *

An hour later, he hears rain hitting against the living room window hard. And yet, Lucy's window is still open. Suddenly, worry fills his eyes as he thinks of "Jiemma" kidnapping Lucy.

"Luce?" He asks worriedly while knocking on her down. "Luce!"

A minute passes (which is far to long for the impatient Salamander) and Natsu is picking Lucy's lock. It takes longer than normal because of her reinforced door and when Natsu opens her door, he's already wide awake and alert.

* * *

 **Natsu's POV**

I slam her door open and the first thing I notice is her open window, the second thing I notice is her damp blankets, which I automatically think is blood. I make a strangled sound before realizing it's just rain. Mid face-palm, my eyes open wide as I remember Lucy is still gone.

I get myself together. I am a spy. I shouldn't be doing this. I am Natsu Dragneel. I shouldn't be the worried one.

After I give a self pep-talk, I look around the room for any hints of struggle. None. So I look for more general hints and I see her makeup bag. My eyes dart to abandoned dresses then the discarded boots and I remember our fight last night. She's gone to drink and make bad choices. She's not kidnapped! I smile and began to finish my face-palm while rolling my eyes and shaking my head, but then a sudden realization hits me.

 _She's gone to drink and make bad choices._ Shit.

In seconds I'm dressed and out the door.

* * *

 **Lucy's POV**

"Shots! Shots! Shots!" Is all I hear as I tilt my head back drink shot after shots- free for me, thanks to all the men in the audience.

Most of the alcohol is running down my body, rather than going in my mouth. I hear this crazy, drunken laughter and I'm confused for a second before realizing it's just the partier thats taking shots and dancing on the table. Then I realize _I'm_ the drunk dancer.

My mind sobers for a moment and I think, _'What the hell am I about to do?!'_

But then I hear the music booming throughout the room and the various voices screaming , "Shots!" and the moment passes.

I feel a hand on mind leading me off the table and I trace the hand back to Loke. He's smiling happily and I can't tell if he's drunk or not.

Then he's dragging me through the crowd and we start dancing closely against each other.

His hands are roaming everywhere and I don't want to stop them, so I close my eyes and sink in the anticipation of intimacy.

Then sloppy, drunk kisses are trailing down my neck, but I don't care- I'm ravished in the thrill of the moment.

Soon, he's leading me to the love seats in the back of the room and sets me on his lap. With a sudden urgency, his tongue is down my throat in a way that is void of all passion. I'm surprised with this unexpected force, and have a moment of panic. _'What will Natsu think?!'_ I laugh inwardly. _'He'd probably be proud of me- that lying bastard.'_

I smile dryly at the truth in my words and Loke (or at least I _think_ that's who this is) takes that a sign to move forward.

His hands travel up my dress to my thighs and he stops at my ass. He looks into my eyes and I must've shown some form of agreement, because seconds later, he's talking to the guard at the door of the backroom.

* * *

 **Natsu's POV**

"Have you seen this girl?!" I ask desperately as I shove a photo in his face.

"No...?" The shop owner answers questioningly.

"Damn it!" I mutter and run off to ask what must've been the 20th person that night if they've "seen this girl?".

* * *

 **Lucy's POV**

He takes my hand and leads me into the room. From what I can gather in my drunken vision, there's a kingsize bed that looks ridiculously clean, a bathroom, a wardrobe, and a nightstand.

Loke knows exactly where everything is, and I have a feeling he's been here before- in fact, from the way he hangs up his jacket in the full wardrobe, I would say he owns the room.

 _'Is this his... sex room?'_ I recoil with disgust, but Loke decides to flash me a suggestive smile in that moment, and all of my excitement rushes back.

* * *

 **Natsu's POV**

"Have you se-!"

"Lucy!... Why do you have a picture of Lucy?"

"You know her? I ask hopefully.

"Yeah, I'm Eve. We shared a special dance at Blue Pegasus Cl-" He says dreamily- right before I punch him in the nose and he's out cold.

"Special night my ass." I say under my breath before searching for the club.

"Do you know where Blue Pegasus Club is?" I ask a group of young men.

"Yeah, but you can shove the answer up your as-" One down four to go.

"What about you?" I ask hurriedly to the next man.

Stupidly, he replies, "Looking for a fight?" And puffs out his chest.

Not a second before he finishes that sentence, and he's moaning on the floor. I look to the next man. "Blue Pegasus Club."

"N-next street, first building on the, um, left."

* * *

The guard takes one look at my bloodied fists and shakes his head. My fist is starting to hurt, but I punch him anyway.

It isn't hard to find out where Lucy went, since half the club is looking to get in her pants. If I wasn't in such a rush to stop Lucy from doing something she would regret, I would punch every single one in the face.

I point to the door. "I need to get there."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Loke is busy at the moment." The guard answers.

I wonder if this is good for my fist...

* * *

 **Lucy's POV**

He pulls my dress off and unhooks my bra faster than can sober. His hands are running over my body, but it no longer feels good. In fact, I feel guilty.

No going back now. His body is against mine and I can't stop myself from thinking about Natsu as my own hands explore his upper body.

He's squirming out of his jeans when the door bursts open and Natsu enters, bloody, in all his amazing glory. Leather jacket, white t-shirt, and jeans- like the badass he's meant to be.

"She's not yours." He growls.

Like a fool, Loke replies. "And what are you gonna do? Beat me up?" It was true. Loke was a hunk, a king. Mighty with his orange hair and smirk. But, if Loke was a king, Natsu was a dragon. Fiery, hot, and lethal.

Faster than my drunken eyes- or any eyes, for that matter- can follow, Natsu leaps forward and punches Loke in the jaw. I hear a crack.

I'm speechless.

Natsu is just staring at me in my pathetic state as a cover my body and stare shamefully at the floor.

Natsu throws his jacket at me, and I barely catch it. He just shakes his head. I wrap it around me and try to stand up in order to grab my clothes (doing my best to ignore Loke's moaning), but I fall. Natsu sighs and picks up my clothes. I look up at him like a poor, helpless animal. He sighs again and scoops me up bridal style.

When we walk out of the room, nine _huge_ guards are waiting for us. Natsu's arm tightens around me protectively. "I can't take them all out. Maybe three, but definitely not not, not all at once. I look down helplessly at my hands. I have six bracelets, three on each side. They're bright gold- like electricty or lighning.

 _'Oh my god, I'm an idiot!'_ I think. "Natsu!" I jangle my bracelets. He doesn't answer, but instead grins wickedly.

"Can you do it?" He asks, unsure of my current abilities.

I adopt a hurt face.

"Sorry. I got the ones on the left. You get the one in front and on right." He instructs.

I stand up out of his arms and wiggle my bracelets off. "I'm not useless, you know."

"I know." And with that he darts to the left, leaving my grinning slyly.

I whispered to each of the bracelets their unique code names and they start buzzing. The first thing they touch after leaving my fingers will get as many volts as I program and charge them with. It's charged at 100,000 volts, but I set it to 50,000- just enough to immobilize a person.

Ah, I love my babies.

Then, with the same action I used in practice thousands of times over, I threw each one of them to their target. In seconds they were all on the floor. I opened up my ring and pressed the button inside it. All the bracelets came right back to mama.

I suddenly became aware of the pain in my head and stomach. I fell to the ground, doing my best to keep myself from groaning in pain.

Without any warning, Natsu scoops me up and walks out of the club like the badass he is.

I'm almost completely naked, I smell like alcohol, and I'm really hot a sweaty. As soon the door opens, a cold wind flows through my hair and a strong rain cools my entire body. Now I regret not bringing something warmer. The only part of my body that isn't freezing to death is where Natsu's body touches my own. Thankfully, my panties are still on, but other than that, it's just Natsu's jacket. The tight one that can't hold in my boobs.

Rain clouds my vision and I can't see a foot ahead of me. But, I do see Natsu's face. His hair is patted down against his head and he's staring straight ahead. He seems oblivious to his red, hot hand burning against my thigh. And though I almost had sex tonight, this is enough to make me forget all that.

A few minutes later, I hear Natsu say something, but I'm not listening. I'm already asleep.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

I'm bad at this "updating" stuff. Sorry...

In other news, I'm going camping again and them I'm gonna leave for two weeks, so don't expect me to update.

Also my editor and critic isn't here at the moment, so I apologize if this chapter is sucky and has errors.

• this story is OOC, but my next story probably wont be.

Review, fav, follow ( **IT HELPS).** Thank you to everyone who's sticking with me and following and such. And also a special thanks to everyone who gives me ideas and helps me build the character's personality.

I HOPE THIS WASN'T TOO SEXUAL FOR YOU, BUT THIS IS RATED TEENS

Shoutout to everyone who's still reading this! I love you guys! In fact, everyone still reading, let me know in the review (I'll see who ma true peeps are *winks*)


	11. Chapter 11

**Lucy's POV**

Shit. My fucking head.

"Uhhh. Uggghhh. Owwww..." I half-moan, half-sob.

I look over to my left where I see a glass of ice cold water and Advil sitting on my nightstand.

 _'Thank God Natsu. You're a lifesaver!'_ I pray silently. I pick up the bottle of pills and turn it upside down over my hand. Nothing happens. It's empty.

"FUC- ahhh... Ouch." It hurts too much yell.

I feel something flutter onto my hand. It's a piece of paper- a note:

This is your punishment.

P.S Fuck you too.

-Natsu

I'm shockingly aware of the temperature. The red, hot, burning temperature that brings hell to my headache. I look around to see a dozen portable electric heaters blowing hot air all over me. I reach for the glass of water, but the ice is already melted. To my surprise, my lower back and downright ass are scorching hot. I jerk onto my side and I swear my head cracks a bit. I look over to see fucking _hand warmers_ all over my bed.

I look down to see an actual winter jacket covering me under three blankets.

Fury devours all other emotion and feelings. "NATSU DRAGNEEL! GET YOUR ASS IN HERE!" Suddenly, I'm doused with freezing cold water coming from above me. I look up to see an odd contraption somehow connected to a now emptied bucket- most likely sound activated to dump water on me by the level of my volume. Smart, and yet it makes me even more furious.

I become abruptly aware of my own screaming, screaming and... laughter...? I open my eyes (previously closed from screaming) and stop screaming to see Natsu laughing his ass off.

"I- I thought- you-" He says in between laughter. "-you would say-" He breaks off into, yet another, series of laughter.

I glare at him. He wont be laughing for much longer. Nor breathing.

* * *

 **Natsu's POV**

I'm gasping hard as I look up into her eyes. She's breathing hard and glaring violently. "-get me some water...?..." I finish unsurely.

Then I see the glint in her eyes and danger in her almost unnoticeable _smile_ \- if I dare call it that. I see her clenched fist and the words plainly spelled out on her face: You are about to cease to exist.

Her leg twitches and I turn in the same moment she rolls forward out of her blanket and to the edge of the bed then leaps-no, pounces- to the place I was _literally_ a second before. Yup, she's pissed... I think I hear a growl... Scratch that- I hear a growl. No, she not pissed. She's completely enraged.

"Uh, Lucy?!" I yell uncertainly behind me while running around the couch and into the kitchen and around the island.

I get a response. Just kidding. It's another growl.

She's looking at me from the other side of the counter. "Lucy, I'm sorry, but you deserved it. You got pretty drunk and almost made a mistake you'd regret forever." I pause from my rushed words. We should probably talk about this... "In fact, you're lucky I found you when I did. What the hell were you thinking?!" I ask suddenly angry... and strangely protective.

Faster than I've ever seen her move (even during fights) she turns around a grabs a knife from the- not to mention conveniently placed- knife block and throws it at my head, with strangely on-point accuracy from someone recovering from a hangover, while, well... roaring. I duck swiftly a wait till I count all nine knives sail over my head into the wall behind me. Good thing we have the whole floor to ourselves.

I guess it wasn't my turn to speak.

To be completely honest, I was surprised when it uh, she, roars speaks, "Advil, ice cold water- in a _glass-_ " She glares at me. "-bacon, and a cold wet towel. We'll talk about everything later."

I nod frantically and set out to complete my chores, thinking- no, _hoping_ \- that we were finished, but then she says, "That includes your punishment." The way she says it makes it sound like my death is already a done deal, but I guess in this line of work, it is.

* * *

 **Lucy's POV**

I lie on the couch while being served my bacon. I have a cold washcloth placed on my forehead and Advil's curing my headache. I'm dressed in the clothes that was under the coat- a large shirt and sweatpants.

Natsu's trying to tell me he did not scream, but it's a useless cause. A couple minutes ago, the police showed up about "all the screaming", but Natsu got them to go away. Apparently, someone called believing someone was being murdered or raped.

Well, I was trying to kill Natsu, so I guess, in a way, it was true.

"Even if I did scream, you growled! Anyone would be afraid of a woman _growling_!"

I sigh. "Natsu, a scream is a scream- no matter the circumstances." I explain to him lazily.

He continues his argument, but my eyes close and I'm busy trying to block him out.

* * *

1300 (5 minutes later)

* * *

"Natsu! Shut the hell up! I'm starting to think this headache has nothing to do with the hangover." I sit up and yell, breaking my streak of silence. "I growled, you screamed. End of story."

"But-"

"End of story."

"Hey! Th-"

I glare at him. "End. Of. Fucking. Story."

"Fine." He replies with a shrug. "End of story."

"Good." I say and lay back comfortably on the couch.

"End of _that_ story. Now we talk about yesterday."

I roll my eyes. "Natsu, I-" I look up into his eyes, but instead of seeing the denial and desperate look in his eyes, I see anger.

His face is all serious- different than from his expression just a moment ago.

"Lucy, what the hell?!" He asks, his eyebrows scrunched together in a questioning tone. "We had an open confrontation with the Big Bang last night. With this, this Jiemma! What was I supposed to think when you disappear in the middle of the night?! More than that, what were you thinking?! How could you even think of clubbing at a time like this? What's wro-"

"What's wrong with me?" I interrupt, raising my eyebrow. "What's wrong with you? What happened with the whole, 'You're not my mom', thing?! You don't get to judge me like this. You don't get to yell at me like this. And you most definitely don't get to tell me what to do!" I finish.

"That was before this whole 'Jiemma' thing!" He protests. "Lucy, you got yourself overwhelmingly drunk, lost your head, and almost got yourself pregnant. And n my eyes, you have never looked more pathetic."

As soon as he says _that,_ I remember that he's The Salamander. He's been on more mission than almost everyone in FTSA. In his eyes, I would be pathetic. "I handled myself just fine with the guards." I protest quietly, my eyes brimming with tears.

"I carried you out of that building while you were naked. You're lucky I found you when I did." He states as if it was a simple fact of life.

It's my life! My choices. Why does he not get that? If he gets to make his own "grown up" decisions, then so do I. "I'm an adult. I don't need you to make these choices for me. You're being a hypocritical ass, and maybe it's because I have a lower rank than you, but-"

Natsu sighs. "No, Lucy, that's not it."

"Really?" I ask angry again. "Then what is it?"

"... It's just... you're weak, Lucy." He shrugs and looks up me.

I laugh sadly. "Yeah, you told me that already." Then I grab my coat and walk my _pathetic_ ass out of here.

* * *

 **Natsu's POV**

Lucy's not weak. I've established that. The way she fights. The way she thinks. The way she gets that determined look in her eyes whenever we have a problem... So...why did I call her weak? Why did I lie to her like that?

…

Because I'm not sure I know the answer to her question, either.

I know that I need to apologize, but at the same time I can't give her an answer to her question. What would I say to her? 'Your not weak, I just lied to I wouldn't have to answer your question.'? Yeah, somehow I don't see that working out.

Maybe I should just get to work. I haven't had this much trouble or procrastination with a partner, ever. We're falling behind, and the meeting with the Big Bang is in two days. We need to do some recon in the meantime.

Get to work it is.

* * *

 **Lucy's POV**

I only have enough pride to hold in my tears until after I exit the building. After that it's like Niagara Falls up in there.

I 'm almost running down the street with my bright red nose and large puffy eyes. I'm sniffling like crazy and the people I pass by, look both pitiful and disgusted at my state.

I'm now running through the streets of Los Angeles, when I see a small bookstore/ café shop. It'a actually more of a hole-in the-wall kind of thing. It's a wonder that the shop's still running.

The shop itself is green and seemingly musty. It's wedged between two other buildings, making it almost completely hidden. It has a simple brown door with a shiny gold-colored door nob.

As I open the door the bell that hangs from the door rings, breaking the silence in the surprisingly well lit room. As I adapt to my surroundings, I begin to hear soft snoring- as if no one expected any customers to arrive.

"Hello?" I ask uncertainly, my voice breaking from my now halted sobs.

The snoring stops and I hear quick rustling followed by a very audible, "Ow!"

A woman about my age emerges with long, wavy hair that's slightly darker than my own and dark green eyes. "Sorry about that." She says sheepishly. She cocks her head to the side and smiles, "I'm Michelle!" She holds out her hand.

I take it hesitantly. "Um, it's fine. And I'm Lucy, by the way."

"Oh, what a coincidence! That was my cousins name... But now- now she's dead!" In an unforeseen movement, she falls to the floor and starts bawling uncontrollably- not to mention loudly. Her head is in her hands.

 _'And here I was looking for comfort...'_ I think.

I fall to my knees slowly. "Hey..." I say awkwardly as I pat her shoulder. "Um... It's going to be alright. I'm sur- Ahh!" She pulls me into a tight hug and cries onto my shoulder. "Come on, you're going to be fine." _'Ahh! Think quickly!'_ I think to myself. Then I my eyes find her bouncy, pink dress and matching bonnet. "You wouldn't want to get you're dress dirty, now would you?"

She gasps and stands up. "Oh, no!" She looks at her dress and examines each part. "Of course not! My cousin, Lucy, bought it for me!... Lucy..." She looks back up at me and I see tears start to fill her eyes again.

Oh, dear god no. "Um, you know, I bet Lucy, wouldn't want you to cry...?" I say questioningly.

"You're right." She takes on a determined face and wipes away her forming tears. "She would want me to stay strong. Strong and happy." She smiles, and says like nothing happened, "What can I do for ya?"

I did it! Finally! I smile back at her. "Can I get a coffee? I'm gonna look around for a bit, so call me when it's finished?"

"Sure thing!"

I look around the inside of the shop and notice that it's much larger in the inside than it looks on the outside. There's four two-seater tables, a couple of booths, and some barstools at the counter. I'm surprised when I see an upper level- entirely full of bookshelves. Each shelf is organized neatly by both genre and in alphabetical order.

I climb up the rickety wooden stairs, that look as if it was grand and beautiful years ago. The chipped paint fell to the ground with each step.

As I reach the 2nd level, I become momentarily overwhelmed with amazement. The shelves stretch out farther than I could've imagined for a place like this. I was about to take my first dreamy step when I white light suddenly flashes before my eyes and a faint " _click_ " is barely audible- a camera.

I hear laughter downstairs which amplifies my confusion. Michelle comes upstairs and hand me the coffee. "Let me explain." She says, wiping a tear. "When you step on the top stair," She points at the staircase. "The timer on the camera," She then points to a small, hidden camera placed on the side of a shelve close by. "goes off. If someone breaks in, we get a picture of their face, and also startle them. But, mostly, it's just so I can see the customers face as they look at our spacious floor in awe. Ooh! I almost forgot!" She waves a small piece of glossy paper. "It also prints them downstairs automatically." She giggles. "Here's yours! I'm keepin' it!" She shows me a picture of myself, my face full of confusion, awe, and wonder. "Don't worry! Almost everybody looks like that. I love it!" She holds the picture to her chest. "Now, I'll leave you alone to wander... Bye!" She hurries down the staircase.

"Bye..." I mumble under my breath.

* * *

I walk around for half-an-hour and would have gotten lost, if it wasn't for the footsteps I continuously left it the dust. As I wandered on, I began to hear some sort of whirring. Soon enough, I see an old, and I mean _old,_ computer. It's quite possibly the oldest -not to mention dustiest- thing in this building. I sit down carefully on the notably modern chair (with wheels!). I click the screen with the mouse and the machine whirs louder. The screen brightens and I'm pleasantly surprised when I see a present-day browser.

I click on the icon and pause. _'Wait, what do I search?'_ I think. I shrug. Then I type into the search engine, "Jiemma- _'What's his last name?'_ I shrug again and click "enter" on the keyboard. Each button makes a pleasurable " _clicky_ " sound.

About 24 million links are associated with Jiemma and in each of those links is the name Ivan Dreyer. I search up his name and get 66 million links. I go back to the page involving Jiemma and click on the first link.

"Billionaire Ivan Dreyer and assistant Jiemma, host a ball July 10th of this year. Mr. Dreyer is declining any interviews until after the ball. Though he did want to thank everyone who bought his anti-virus, spy protected, or any other one of his softwares. It has been rumored that our government has caved and also bought his software- joining the other technology advanced countries..."

There was more, but the rest didn't matter to me. The people I hate the most, who took my _entire family_ away from me, are filthy rich with an affiliation to governments around the world. Those sneaky bastards.

...

I need to get to that ball. In two days we meet with the Big Bang. Two days after that, we'll be at that ball.

* * *

I run back to my house. Natsu needs to know about this.

"Oof!" I'm suddenly tackeled by a hug.

"Lucy! Where were you?! I called you a million times." He takes me by my shoulders and looks into my eyes. His own are filled of worry and confusion.

"Natsu..." I smile. "I'm fine. I have to talk to you about something important..." I look around and see and outside coffee shop. "Follow me." I say as I lead if to a table.

* * *

As soon as we sit down, Natsu speaks, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to call you weak. I just... I didn't know what to say..." He looks up at me. "You scared me you know... You were gone and I had no idea what happened to you. My imagination took over and I feared the worst."

I laugh. "I'm sorry I growled at you."

He adopts an angry face and says playfully. "Now _that_ needs more than a simple sorry."

"I'll pay?"

In the blink of an eye, his face twists into an evil smirk. "Ok."

"... And the crème brûlée, please." He tells the waiter has she tries to scribble down his vast order.

"Okay, so..." She then proceeds to name almost all the items on the menu.

"You forgot the leman custard and panna cotta." Scratch that, all the items on the menu.

She turns to me, her knuckles white from writing. I decided to spare her the pain. "And what'll you have miss?"

I smile, "The lemon meringue pie, please." The moment she finishes writing down my order her pencil breaks.

"Um, anyways Natsu-"

"I QUIT!" We watch the waiter- our waiter- throw the note pad at the chef and rip off her apron. She then throws it on the ground and marches angrily out the door.

Natsu smirks at me. "You were her last straw."

I scowl. "You were all her straws."

He laughs handsomely. "Good point." He says with his deep voice.

"Now," I say, desperately trying to get back on track. "We have to get to a ball. It's-"

"Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you. Ivan Dreyer is throwing a ball. I think he has something to do with," He looks both ways before whispering. "The Big Bang. After all, he is Jiemma's boss."

"Yes, I know. I was about to say that right before, you so _rudely_ interrupted me."

He smirks and I roll my eyes. He then rolls his own eyes and I laugh at the memory of the day we first met- when he mimicked my every move.. He gives out a high pitched girly laugh. "Okay, what?" I ask.

"Okay, what?!" He mimics annoyingly.

"Natsu!"

His voice drops and he says slowly and huskily, "Lucy."

Just that sends a shiver down my back as my face reddens.

"HAHAHA! You're so fun to tease, Lucy."

"Okay, okay!" I say, embarrassed. "Now, tell me what I missed."

He smirks- lengthening the suspense. "It's a masked ball."

* * *

 **Authors Note**

So sorry... Thanks for staying with me and a special thanks to ilft. natsu cause they ACTUALLY LISTENED.

Anyways, please follow, favorite, and review! If have any ideas, please share.

Also, because school is starting, my updates are going to be _even slower_... Sorry.

ilysm... and did anyone else think Wendy should've died? (anime) kay love you bye!


	12. Chapter 12

**Lucy's POV**

"Uhhh... What?" Someone asks stupidly. Oh, wait. It's me.

"You heard me. It's a masked ball. They call it, The Raven's Ball."

"How are we supposed tell who anybody is?! I can't do recon if I don't know who I'm spying on?!" I ask Natsu with big confused eyes and furrowed eyebrows.

"Geez, calm down, Luce." He pauses and looks up at me. "And sit down. Also I'd advise you to stop waving your arms around and yelling. People are staring." He states simply.

I roll my eyes. "I'm not waving my-" I look up to see my arms in mid-wave. I bring them down slowly and look around. Sure enough, people are staring.

Scoffing, I sit down then sigh. "So, Natsu, what's your plan, then?"

He raises an eyebrow. "Plan? Who said anything about a plan?"

I open my mouth to yell at him, when he cuts me off, "Just kidding!" He stops until I close my mouth questioningly. "I actually did do some work of my own." He pulls a folded sheet of paper out from his pant's pocket. "So far, I listed some of the problems that we may come across." He hands me the paper.

1\. Entrance

2\. Cameras

3\. Identifying Ivan and Jiemma

4\. Blueprints

5\. Computer access codes/ passwords

"Other than that, we're going to need disguises, masks, and ball-room worthy clothing." He lists, counting each item on his fingers.

"Why would we need a disguises? It's already a masked ball, and everybody knows disguises are such a hassle." I think of my failed training exercises gloomily.

* * *

Flashback

"WHERE'S MY WIG? IS MY MAKEUP SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE THIS?!" Sobbing is the only thing that I hear, and other than my sense of failure, all I feel is mascara dripping from my eyes. The smell of burning hair fills my nostrils. All I see are shaking hands that look very much like my own, and I somehow taste the despair and frustration that haunts my soul.

* * *

I cringe slightly at the memory.

Suddenly, Natsu gives a short laugh, "I remember this one time , some girl had this mental breakdown during the "Disguises" part of the training! It was so funny!" He looks at me excitedly. "I even got to watch! See, it was for my-" He babbles loudly, but I'm not listening. My body is too busy making my face as red as humanly possible. I look down, but that just seems to speed up the process. "-And get this! I got it all on tape!" My head snaps up.

"What?! How did you even get that?!" He shouldn't have that. Why the hell would he have that?! Ugh... If he watches that now, he'll know for sure it's me. He is used to my voice after all...

He smirks smugly, "Someone owed me a favor. -Oh my god! Luce are you alright?! Your face is really red!" He leans over to touch my forehead. "Hmm... It might just be this sun... Let's get you home, ok? We'll finish up there."

"Uh, yeah! It must be this sun... I'm, uh, burnin' up out here!"

* * *

x (o_o) x

* * *

 **Third Person POV**

Little did she know, a knowing smirk was planted evilly on Natsu's face as he led her away from the bakery.

* * *

x (¯―¯٥) x

* * *

 **Natsu's POV**

I knock on her door (It's technically not her room) and begin to speak without waiting for a reply. "I just got off the phone with Levy, she says she can the blueprints by 3 pm... You done changing yet?"

"Almost... Did we get anything about the cameras?"

"..."

Lucy opens the door wearing a crop top with a tank top and sweatpants that somehow looks great on her. She sighs. "You forget to ask?"

"Uh, yeah?"

She walks over to the living room and grabs her phone from the coffee table. "I'll call her myself." She mutters. "Did you at least ask about getting us on the list?"

I look down. "You only asked me to ask about the blueprints..." I mumble.

I see her in my peripheral vision throwing her hands in the air and plopping down on the couch. She looks around before grabbing my pencil and putting her hair up in a messy bun that happens to completes the look.

"That's my pencil..." I say mostly to myself quietly.

She looks at me. "Huh?" How she sounds menacing, yet looks so innocent, is a mystery. A horrid, barbarous mystery.

I wave my hands in front of my face defensively. "Nothing!"

"Oh."

"..."

"Levy?" She asks loudly.

"Levy?" I ask questioningly until I see her phone. "Ohhh."

She glares at me and mouths "Shut up." I nod and mimic locking my mouth and throwing away a key.

She just rolls her eyes as I smirk.

"Levy, sorry to call again, but Natsu," She says emphasizing my name. "Forgot to mention the fact that we're going to need a tool to disable multiple cameras and we need to get on the list to the ball."

I faintly hear Levy laugh and say something about me. I tilt my head curiously and mouth, "What did she say?"

Lucy glances at me irritably and shakes her head.

"Mm-hm, yeah. That'll be fine...No?... Yes... Ok, can you get that labeled on the blueprints?"

Blueprints? Finally, I'm able to understand what they're talking about.

"Thanks for your concern, but I already found out how much of a pig he is." Lucy replies while glaring at me.

How do they even switch topics that fast?

A minute or so later, Lucy ends her phone call and spreads out on the couch. "Ugh," She says irritably. "See, that wasn't so hard."

"So, what'd ya get?"

She puts her forearm over her eyes and yawns. "The new suits just got updated, so that will arrive soon with our tool. Unfortunately, each camera will only be disabled for ten seconds after turning it off."

I wait for more, but she stays silent. "And the list?" I ask after a while.

She yawns again, "What?"

I roll my eyes. "Are we on the list or what?!"

Lucy groans and removes her arm to give me a side glare. After a moment, she looks away and covers her eyes with her arm again. "She couldn't get us on the list, but there are *yawn* multiple side entrances, air ducts, and tunnels that haven't been used for a while."

I pause to think over the situation. We'll probably have to bring an extra set of clothes if we're going to be sneaking around.

"And what about the codes?"

"..."

"Luce? Lucy?"

I'm answered by soft snoring. Well, what am I supposed to do for the next hour. Oh, wait. I know. I smile evilly.

* * *

 **x** **(¬‿¬)** **x**

* * *

 **Lucy's POV**

I wake up, disoriented and confused. Looking around, I see the sun beginning to set. It's somewhare around 6.

I walk to my room, clumsy and yawning. As I enter the room, it's curiously hot. I decide to get dressed then wake Natsu up so we can go out to eat.

I look at my closet and decide to wear a blue sundress, with buttons that go all the way down the middle and pockets at the thighs.

I apply my makeup in the bathroom connecting to my room. I'm completely ready to go, but still tired so I decide to lay in bed for a couple minutes before getting Natsu.

I jump into my bed, ready to feel the white, soft, feather-filled comforter. Instead, I land in something hard, and very, very warm.

"KYYAAAA!" I jump up out of my bed to see Natsu getting up, shaking his head and blinking the sleep out of his eyes. "Natsu!?"

"Yeah?" He answers sleepily.

"Baffeled, I fumble over words before spitting out, "What the hell are you doing in my bed?!"

He tsks his tounge three times, "It's not your bed."

I notice he's avoiding my glare, so I trace his line of sight. All the way to the top of my dress, with one button mistakenly unbuttoned. I step forward, "Natsu." He drags his eyes away from my breasts.

"Yeah?" As soon as his eyes make contact with my own, my hand swings forward and connects with his face, making a sharp, whip-like, CRACKing noise.

His head is turned from the slap and frozen in place. He shakes is head slightly. He inhales "Yeah, I deserved that."

"Get out, get dressed. I want to go out to eat."

He trudges out of the room while I button up the top button.

He leaves, closing the door behind him and I make my bed. _'He will_ so _be gotten back for that.'_

* * *

I come out and he's putting on his ever-so-present, leather jacket. When he see's me, he immediently points to the red handprint on the side of his face. "People are gonna stare."

"Nobody's gonna stare."

"I have a fucking _handprint_ embedded on my face."

I roll my eyes. "Embedded is such dramatic word. Let's go."

"Why are you so set on going out to eat? We can just order takeout."

I groan. "I haven't gone out to eat in such a long time." Then I mutter quietly, "Besides, you're paying."

"Um, no I'm not. I didn't even bring my wallet." He says, raising an eyebrow.

I step forward quickly, so we're only inches apart. I then bring my hands to his waist and slide them in between his arms, along his waist. As I do, I feel his abs and my face goes red. My heartbeat increases and my plan suddenly evaporates. I can't help but love his smell. Summer. I'm immensely eager to run my hands against his stomach, so I reach into his jacket pocket and pull out the wallet I slipped in earlier before I slip completely. I step back and show him the wallet, while looking down, hoping he didn't notice me falter.

"Looks like you're gonna have to," I say, desperately trying to get back on track. "Seeing as how I didn't either.

Suddenly, the wallet is out of my hands and Natsu's chest is less than an inch from my face. I watch his chest rise and fall steadily, unlike my own. I look into his eyes and almost fall. His black orbs stare into my own, captivating my mind and controlling my every action. His hands slide ever so slowly down my waist to my thighs, making me shiver as I bite my lip hopelessly. Goosebumps appear on my skin, although I feel as though I'm on fire.

His hands slip into my pockets and pull out my wallet. He then waves it in front of my face ands smirks triumphantly. I see the fuckboy symptom and automatically gets turned off.

"Thanks." When I step back and grab the wallet from his hands, he looks genuinely confused that I'm not all over him. I realize that he has no idea that being a fuckboy is an automatic turn off. Suddenly it hits me. What if, I played it cool. Like I wasn't dying inside the whole time.

"I especially liked the whole, 'looking into eyes thing'." I say nonchalantly. I wait to gauge his reaction.

"Oh."

Oh. My God. I messed up his game. Awesome.

"Anyways," I say unsurely. "You want to pay for dinner?"

"Sure." He says, lost in thought.

Yeah, I got him back alright.

* * *

"What about here?"

"Nope. To cheap."

"That's the point." He mutters

"What about here?" I ask, pointing to an obviously expensive restaurant.

He looks up. "Hell no."

I laugh at his expression.

"Ooo, what about here?" I point to a green and red restaurant with a giant dragon's head planted on the roof. Lanterns decorate the surrounding area. Large windows decorate the bottom floor, shedding even more light into the now darkened sky.

"Super Express Restaurant..." Natsu reads. "Doesn't sound very impressive to me."

"I'm sorry," I reply sarcastically. "Shall I pick something more expensive?"

"No!" He shouts, then composes himself. "I mean, if you like the place so much..."

I hook my arm around his. "Well, then let's go already!"

I run towards the building as he laughs while getting dragged behind me.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Okay, you are going to love this one.

So, I accidentally deleted this chapter and emptied it in to the trash. See, I though I had saved it into a different folder. I had not. So, I had to rewrite this, and, not to mention rush it.

Please, for the love of god tell me if there are any mistakes. Also criticize, follow, favorite and review. I love all of you who are still following me on this. You guys are the best. Also the new episode of Fairy Tail. Loved it! Almost as much as I love you guys.

IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS, LET ME KNOW

So, yeah. Love ya'll. Ideas. Follow, favorite, etc. Late chapter. Sorry.

Kay, bye! Love you so much! (≧◡≦)Oh, yeah, like these things?

#noedits


	13. Chapter 13

**Natsu's POV**

I don't even know when I agreed to this- just that I did.

* * *

Seconds after we enter, a male waiter approaches us. "Table for two?" He asks with a surprisingly smooth voice.

"Mmhm." Luce nods sweetly staring, enchanted, into his eyes. "Oh, but we're not dating or anything!" She rushes before he turns around all the way. He looks over his shoulder and gives a half smile.

He winks, "Okay." She giggles in an odd girly way I've never seen her use before. I even notice her batting her eyelashes. It comes to my mind that she has never tried to grab _my_ attention like this before.

He leads us to our table, side by side with Lucy. Lucy and I sit down, but I'm completely ignored. Their talking continues for a full minute until I decide to step in.

I clear my throat loudly. They both look at me- the male, irritated and Lucy looks confused like, _'I hope you know what you're doing.'_ kind of confused. That's when it hit me. She expects me to be her wingman.

Nope. Not tonight. Actually, not ever. "The menus please."

"...Yeah, I'll go grab those..." He says slowly before shooting Lucy one last longing look that she returns with large pleading eyes and a sweet smile. As soon as he's out of view, her face becomes angry and she turns to me.

"What the hell, Natsu?!" She asks me.

"Oh, come on." I reply lazily. "He's not that great. What could he possibly have that I do not?"

She raises her eyebrows. "Hmm, let me think..." She rubs her chin and looks at the ceiling. She looks toward me and gives me a sarcastic smile. "Oh yeah. Black hair, blue eyes, class, not a leather jacket, a douche-free smile, oh, the list goes on!"

"You're judging me on the color of my hair?" I say in disbelief. What happened to , 'I don't care about appearances.'? Women.

She sighs, snapping me out of my semi-rant. "Honestly, who dies their hair pink?"

I gasp. How dare she? "One," I begin. "I was born with it. Repeat after me. Not Dyed. Two," I continue without waiting for her to catch up. "It's salmon- not different colors- get them right. And three, shouldn't you be asking, 'How can someone look so extremely badass with hair as bright as mine'?"

I smirk slightly, _'That showed he-'_

"One I don't know of anyone in the world with naturally _pink_ hair. Two, no one uses the word salmon to describe a color. And three, you should really look up the word 'badass'."

"Excuse me! I am extremely _badass_!" I protest defensively.

"Please!" She says rolling her brown eyes. "You wouldn't know badass if it hit you in the face."

"Didn't we go over this already?" I say, faking laziness. "I'm badass," I say pointing to myself as I emphasize each word. "And you, are not."

"Sure ya are, bud. Keep telling yourself that." She tilts her chair back, and seizing my opportunity, I slide my foot under her chair and kick upwards. She yelps and struggles to grab a hold of the table as she starts to fall backwards. Just as she's about to fall completely, the waiter rushes to her and catches her heroically.

"Oh my god, thank you so much." Lucy says, obviously acting more scared than she actually was.

"It was no problem," He says nonchalantly. "The name's Damien, by the way."

Lucy smiles innocently before stating her own name.

He opens his mouth to speak, but I stop him my clearing my throat and raising an eyebrow. "Menus?"

"Oh. Here." He hands over the menus, half-pouting.

I yawn as if everything he does is insignificant. After handing over two menus, a drink menu, and a dessert menu, he turns back to Lucy, but I interrupt him a third time. "That's all, thanks." He scowls at me before marching away reluctantly.

Lucy turns to me and pouts mockingly, "Is someone jealous?"

I snort, "Of what? His inability to stand up for himself? I don't think so."

"No." Lucy says carefully, as if she were talking to a child. "Of the way he attracts females so easily."

I give a fake laugh, "That's your point?" I ask incredulously. "I do the same thing everyday."

Lucy sighs and rests her head on her hands so she's staring at Damien. "Not as good as him."

I raise an eyebrow. I _know_ I'm attractive. Magnetic. There is no way this push-over of a man is better than I. "I'm twice as good at picking up girls than he is." I state.

"Really?" Lucy smirks. "Let's put that to the test..."

* * *

 **x** **(˘⌣˘) x**

* * *

 **Third Person POV**

As Lucy and Natsu wait for their food, they decide to conduct an experiment.

"Okay..." Lucy says, watching Damien approach two girls dining together. "Now!"

As soon as the words fly out of her mouth, Natsu is up and hurrying towards the girls. One is a tall, slender women with long, dark red hair that is curled to perfection. The other is beautiful and completely stunning with dirty blond hair completed with wild blue streaks.

Lucy watches from the table as Natsu walks cooly behind Damien and winks attractively at the two girls. They don't notice him, being too busy staring into the dark blue eyes of the gorgeous waiter.

Natsu gets a confused look on his face and looks at me like a lost puppy. It quickly turns into one of determination. They both watch as Damien exaggerates a laugh, showing off his blinding white smile.

Natsu's eyes slant as he focuses on the waiters movements. His eyes dart around the table until he see's the redhead throwing a playful punch at Damien. In one quick maneuver, Natsu is behind the other man just as he steps back (presumably to dodge) into Natsu, who is conveniently holding a glass of water.

The water splashes over the two men. Gasping, Damien jumps backwards and bumps into the women's table. Water is all over Damien as he struggles to apologize to the two girls. He takes of his apron to reveal soaked jeans. Mumbling, he walks off toward the kitchen.

Seizing his chance, Natsu jumps in. "Hey, sorry 'bout that." Natsu says shyly. He scratches the back of his head.

"Oh, it's totally fine!" Replies the blond. She gasps and points to his jacket. "You're soaked!" Natsu looks down at his clothes ignorantly.

"Oh. I hadn't noticed." The women both hid their giggles as Natsu removes his leather jacket- which, being leather, was barely wet anyway. His tight, black, shirt defined his each and every one of his abs and made his pecs bulge. He brings his arm up to scratch the back of his neck, flexing his arms and exposing his V-line.

Lucy looks away while the two girls ogle at his toned body. When she looks back, they're feeling his biceps. Natsu's faking a blush as catches her eye and winks. Lucy rolls her eyes at him. _'Natsu, you dummy.'_ She thinks to herself.

As he continues to laugh and converse with the girls, a different waiter comes to their table bringing their large order, courtesy of Natsu. He notices the food being set and immediately rushes over to his table, leaving the redhead in mid-sentence.

* * *

 **x** **(╯_╰") x**

* * *

 **Lucy's POV**

"Ooooo!" Natsu says sliding into his chair. He stares at the food for a moment, as if he was soaking everything in.

"It's just food, ya know?" I tell him, breaking the silence.

He looks at me, a bewildered look on his face. "Just food?! This is not 'just food'. This is 'food'! The best invention of the century!"

I raise an eyebrow and wait to see if he was kidding.

…

Apparently not. "Natsu..." I begin carefully. "You do realize that food is not an invention... Right?" He stares at me. "...And it's also been around longer than a century."

"... Potato, patato!" He says dismissively. "Let's eat!"

* * *

 **x** **(¯―¯** **٥** **) x**

* * *

"Hey, Natsu?" I ask slowly.

"Mmyaa ?" He replies, mouth full.

"... Are you gonna eat that?" I ask pointing to a forgotten piece of lobster.

He looks over, eyes wide open. He quickly grabs it and shoves it into his already stuffed face before refocusing on his current plate.

I smile and roll my eyes. How can one person eat so much? Well, at least he's paying. From the corner of my eye, I see the two women glaring daggers at me. I notice their eyes flick back to Natsu every couple moments and put two and two together.

I smirk at them and lean closer to Natsu over the table. He doesn't notice, but the females definitely do. I put my foot out from under the table, making sure they see it. I then slide it back under the table and towards Natsu's feet.

I look at their enraged faces and am oddly determined to do more. I slide but foot up Natsu's leg a bit and attempt to hide my laugh at their obvious, I-will-kill-you, faces. I glance at Natsu, ready to plan my next move, and am surprised to see him looking back at me and raising his eyebrows questioningly with his mouth completely full.

My face reddens and I look away. A moments later, he lifts up my chin so I'm staring him in the eyes. The food that was previously inn his mouth disappeared. He points to the two girls with his eyes and nods, smiling sneakily. I smile, showing my agreement.

He picks up a strawberry and feeds it to me while I stare down the females. They both get up and leave their table angrily. Natsu and I look at each others faces for a second before cracking up at the same time. The next five seconds were full of , "Did you see their faces?", "That was so funny!", and "They looked like this!" plus alien, angry, altogether grotesque, in between our laughter.

Unfortunately, after those five seconds, it was no longer funny for him, for me plenty, though.

The women stood at either side of him and each slapped him right across the face.

* * *

 **x** **(o_o) x**

* * *

"This so unfair!" Natsu complains as we walk through the park. "Three times in one night!" I start cracking up all over again.

He sighs and rolls eyes. "It stopped being funny a while ago... Actually, it was never funny."

"Maybe not for you!" I say in between my giggles. I look at his face and laugh louder. "You have two handprints on your fucking face!" I laugh so hard I snort.

Surprised at myself, I stop laughing and bring a hand up to my face to cover my mouth. Natsu starts to laugh loudly and mimics my snort, more obnoxious and loud than the my own.

My face grows red. I remove my hand from my mouth and protest, "That is _not_ what I sounded like!"

He looks at me and smiles, shaking his head in disbelief, "Sure ya did, _bud._ _ **"**_ He replies, referencing my earlier words. I punch him teasingly on the shoulder and he pushes back lightly.

We walk in silence for a while, each staring at the beautiful city in the close distance. I watch a magnificent beam that cuts through the night sky and a tall, spear-like, point on a building that fades in and out of multiple colors.

I sigh and rub my arms, cursing myself for forgetting a jacket.

"Aw, fuck it." I hear Natsu mumble almost silently a second later. He takes off his leather jacket and throws it roughy over my shoulders.

I bite my lip to hide a spreading smile. Who knew? After all, this is the Salamander we're talking about. I slide my arms through and snuggle into the still warm leather. I can't help notice it smells like him. Like summer in the middle of Autumn.

He sighs and suddenly he starts sprinting as fast as he can through the park. After a few puzzling moments, I run after him. ' _Like hell I'll stay in this park myself!'_

I turn a bend just in time to see him run down a hill. I increase my speed, terrified to get left in the dark park, void of people.

I sprint to the top of the hill and stop, my eyes scanning for anything pink. A strong wind urges me forward. Step after cautious step, I descend. The wind blows my dress up and I push it back down, cursing the Autumn air.

"Natsu? Natsu, knock it off! Where are you!" The hair on the back of my neck stands up in that moment and I turn around... to see no one there. I turn back around and I get the feeling that someone's watching me, so, I start running. It's not like I can't find the way back anyways.

I'm running on the path with only the full moon to light my way and sometimes a dim lamp. Suddenly, a shape blocks the moonlight from my view and I jump back and get into a fighting stance.

Suddenly, the night is filled with a howling laughter. I focus on the face to see, no other than Natsu freaking Dragneel, on his knees out of breath from the laughter.

I huff and cross my arms. "You're so fucking stupid, Natsu!" I half-scream before speed walking down the path with my fists clenched.

Natsu takes a few shaky breaths tinted with laughter. "Oh, come _on_ , Luce!" He says, running to catch up with me. "It's not _my_ fault!" he protests.

"Oh, really?!" I say rolling my eyes and speeding up.

"Yes, really!"

"And why's that?!" I practically spit out.

"Because... 'Cause... Well... It just wasn't, okay!" He half-yells.

I scoff. "Whatever you say, _bud._ "

We walk in silence until I see large, dark, metal gates, marking the park exit about 50 feet away. Then, I have an idea.

"What's that?" I ask, pointing to nothing to the right of us.

He follows my finger to the destination and after a second, he says, "I don't see anything..." Before turning around. "Are you sure you...?" His voice cuts of and I know he's watching me arrive at the gate after sprinting.

As soon as I get there, I slide to the ground, and pull out the metal bars latching the gate to the ground on either side. I quickly push the gates close and look up to see Natsu approaching fairly quickly. I shrug off his leather jacket and ties it around the gates, tightly. Using the sleeves I double knot it before wrapping the sleeves around the gate again and tying it as tight as humanly possible. Taking a cheap pair of earphones out of my pocket, I use it to secure the jacket's sleeves' once again. He rams into the gate as soon as I finish with the earphones.

"You know I can easily break through, right?" He says to me from the other side of the gate.

"And risk ripping your jacket? I don't think so." I smile smugly and begin to walk away.

"I have enough tools to scale the wall!" He yells as I walk away.

I hold up multiple gadgets. "You mean these? Yeah, they were in your jacket."

Ahh, revenge. Served cold. I shiver from the cold air. Very cold.

* * *

 **x** **(** **¯w¯** **)ψ x**

* * *

I go into the living room bathroom, not trusting myself to keep my room free of the dirt on my clothes, and remove my clothes and run the bath. Minutes later, I lower myself into the steaming water.

"Ahhh." I moan. The water burns against my body and I can almost feel it removing the dirt from my skin.

I stay in there for at least half an hour, conditioning my long hair and massaging my scalp. I drain the water then dry myself off and put on lotion before realizing I left my clothes in my room.

As I exit the bathroom, I hear a shower running. A horrifying thought passes my mind, so I run to my bedroom door. It's locked. I was right. Natsu came home. And is going to sleep in my room. I kick the wall angrily.

"DAMN IT, NATSU!" I yell, though I doubt he can hear me through the wall and the running water of the shower.

But, I have an idea. I hear the shower turn off and ten minutes later, snoring. Then, I put my plan into action.

•

•

Till three in the fucking morning, I'm banging on his door. Sound familiar? (review, it doesn't take long)

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Okay, so this one is on time...Yay! Um, please review, favorite, and follow... I REACHED 100 FOLLOWERS... I know that doesn't seem like much compared to the number of follows, favorites, and reviews many other people have, but it's a start! I love all of you and I'm so glad this story didn't become a dud...

So, please review. Any errors in the story, any ideas, any random comments. And if you want to, vent, FREAKING VENT! You can vent to me or simply in the reviews. Venting is proven to relieve stress!

Also, EPISODE 249! I'm dead! I almost feel completely different about Lucy. (in ma profile bruh)

Anyways, speaking of venting... I think I ruined a pretty awesome friendship cause I was to stubborn to admit my wrongs. And because I always want what I can't have. And because I NEVER REALIZE WHAT I HAVE UNTIL IT'S GONE. And that fucking sucks, so... \\_(ツ)_/ #sorrynotnotsorry #doublenegative

I know you probably don't believe me, but... I really need you guys 'cause I probably would've quit on my second chapter if not for you. If anyone's still with me here, thanks for reading. U DA BOMB.

SOMEONE TALK TO ME IM BORED

Kay, bye!


	14. Chapter 14

**Third Person POV**

Natsu walks out of the bedroom, having had the best sleep he's had in weeks. Shirtless, he walks over to the couch and sees Lucy. She's laying there, wrapped in a purple towel that just barely covers the necessities.

Her mouth is slightly open and she's laying on her side crookedly.

Natsu watches her for a minute, enchanted. He studies her structure and every point of her body as if she were a painting. He listens to her calmed breathing and the steady rise of her chest. As he watches her, he notices goosebumps creating a trail about her body.

He shakes his head before leaving to grab a large comforter from "her" bed and lays it atop her. He doesn't notice the smile that creeps to his face as he watches her immediately snuggle into the warmth. Throwing on sweats and a random hoodie, he grabs his keys and walks out the door.

* * *

 **x ( O_0 ") x**

* * *

Natsu opens the door to the apartment, carrying multiple bags of groceries and a mysterious black box.

Lucy, now dressed in pajama short-shorts and a tank top, approaches him, scolding speech forgotten.

"What's that?" She asks, indicating the large black box.

"Eggs, some milk, a couple bags of fruit- Ow!" Natsu rubs his arm from Lucy's punch.

She rolls her eyes. "I meant the black box."

"Ohhh, see that makes much more sense- Ah! Damn, it Lucy!" He rubs his ribs defensively.

"Just tell me already!" Lucy demands.

"Okay, okay!" Natsu pushes the groceries away and pulls the box closer to him. Smiling, he opens it dramatically while singing an angels opening voice. (A/N when something heavenly opens and it goes something like: Ahhhhhh!)

He pulls out a large SUIT (A.K.A Safety Unit and Implementable Tools) and studies the camouflaged material.

"Hmm..." Natsu says, running the fabric between his fingers and smoothening out bumps.

Lucy raises an eyebrow at his actions. "Natsu... why don't you just try it on?"

He looks up at Lucy and visibly brightens, "Good idea, Luce!" He grabs his suit off the counter and throws it over his shoulder and starts heading toward the bedroom.

"Ah, ah, ah." Lucy reminds him, tsking.

Natsu sighs irritably and changes his route. Lucy grabs the second one and studies it. It's smaller and has a different structure than the males'. Lucy runs to her room and to try it on. As she unfolds it, a small paper flutters softly to the ground.

She picks it up to see it be an instruction manual. She puts it on her wardrobe. She shimmies the SUIT on and zips it up. Next to her left shoulder is a small thin lifts the top open and sees multiple shades of black, brown, and red. Hair dyes. She picks up the manual and matches other items to ones on her body. According to the pamphlet, the special tool should be strapped securely to her thigh

She walks out of the room still dressed in her SUIT, stretching it out and making it more worn. She see's Natsu, also in his SUIT, doing lunges and pulling out several tools, including multiple throwing knives.

He pretends to throw them and check the rest of his tool. Lucy's face get's red, remembering the first time she saw him in the skin-tight material. She quickly avoids his lean, muscular body from her eyes. She lost self-control for a moment and looked down at him, mid-lunge.

She scanned every sharp angle and all curves. Her eyes roamed over his abs and muscular chest before dropping down to reveal a muscular ass and seemingly rock hard legs.

She regained control a second later and walked to the kitchen, unaware of the eyes that scanned her own body assertively.

"Natsu, I'm making breakfast. What you want?" She asks rummaging through the bags of groceries.

His eyes brightened as he looked at her in shock. "What do I want...?" He asks, lost in the folds of his mind. "I thought you'd never ask..."

She rolls her eyes at his dramatics, "It's now or never, Natsu."

His eyes open wide and his face fills with worry, "Okay, okay! I want...," He strokes his chin in thought. "An omelet!"

"Ok." Easy enough. She starts taking out individual ingredients while humming. Pulling out a knife, Lucy begins to cut vegetables, unconsciously making her humming louder.

Natsu plops down on the couch and turns on the flatscreen T.V as well as the volume. Lucy makes her humming even louder. Annoyed at the sound, Natsu turns up the volume. Lucy furrows her brows and hums louder, not being able to hear herself think.

Natsu glares at the back of her head and increases the volume. "On next, the..." The T.V gets faded into the background as Lucy starts singing:

"Well you only need the light when it's burning low,

Only miss the sun when it starts to snow

Only know you love her when you let her go.

Only know you've-"

Natsu turns off the T.V leaving the room filled with only the sound of Lucy singing, noticeably louder than it should be.

Embarrassed and self conscious, she quiets down before stopping her singing completely. She turns to glare at Natsu, "Hey!"

She's faced with an approving expression from the boy and making her raise her eyebrow quizzically and pout. "What..?"

"You can sing." He says although it sounds more like a question.

Lucy's face heats up, so she turns quickly back to the stove and continues cooking. "Yeah... But it's nothing..." _'_ _I prefer to write songs.'_ She thought.

Seconds later, a faint squeak from the couch informs her Natsu's up, but other than that, there are no indication to where he's going. No footsteps or the sound of clothing rubbing against each other can be heard.

Suddenly paranoid, Lucy feels a breath on her neck and a heat source coming from behind her.

She quickly turns around, but sees nothing- even Natsu has disappeared. She turns back around and flips the omelets. Ten seconds later, she feels the same presence. She stiffens, but steadfastly refuses to turn around and give in to her paranoia.

Behind her, she hears what could be a creak of a floor board. _'Fuck it.'_ She thinks, before turning around. An obstacle is in her way, blocking her from the living room. Somehow not surprised, she realizes it's a person.

Without hesitation, Lucy moves to knee the perpetrator in his lower stomach/ groin area. In the blink of eye, the person dodges, dramatically last second. Along with that and the flash of pink she catches, Lucy concludes it to be Natsu.

He moves to grab her wrists, but she twirls out of the way, breakfast forgotten. Reaching behind himself, Natsu grabs the sink shower head and pulls it out as far as it can reach. Split seconds before the water reaches Lucy, she dives behind the island. Adrenaline pumping, she spreads herself against the cabinets as water sprays past her, just barely splashing her feet .

She looks around frantically mumbling, "Weapon, weapon." The nearest thing she can see is a frying pan that can double as a shield. Unfortunately, she can't reach it without being sprayed.

She looks down and notice she's wearing her SUIT. She smiles, but it quickly dissolves. It was only a matter of time before Natsu realized he was wearing a weapon himself. She grabs a throwing knife from her thigh and peeks out from the side. Automatically, water hurls toward her. She crawls around the island so she's the closet she can be to Natsu without being spotted.

She holds the knife to her chest and and takes a deep breath. She looks at the three small pillars separating the kitchen from the living room. In one second, she has crouched, leaped, turned, threw her knife, and landed before scurrying behind the pillar.

Her smile wide, she stole a glance of Natsu from behind the pillar. There, she saw him with his face twisted in confusion. The knife flew straight to it's target, ripping through cord that brings water to the shower head. Natsu attempted to turn on the water, but it just spewed out the sides pathetically.

With the water rendered useless, Natsu resorts to his SUIT. Pulling out some of his MDB's (A.K.A Minor Distraction Bombs- "FTSA made"), he throws them to either side of the pillar. Yelping, Lucy jumps and pushes off the pillar with her feet, launching herself away from Natsu as two MDB's create a loud pop, spraying white powder everywhere. She rolls into a stand and slides across the coffee table, taking cover behind the couches- away from the now foggy room.

A few shaky laughs later, she's attack by water balloons- their origin unknown. One is thrown too far and Lucy's able to catch it before it bursts.

She hurls it right back through the air and it sails toward Natsu. He skillfully dodges it and begins to laugh like a madman.

Suddenly, the fire alarm goes off. Natsu and Lucy turn towards each other is confusion, weapons hanging limp at their sides. They smell the smoke abruptly and see a small fire that had appeared at the stove. Turning back toward each other they yell in perfectly timed unison, "The omelet!"

In that moment, water starts raining down from the ceiling.

"YOU INSTALLED FIRE SPRINKLERS?!" Lucy shrieks.

"I HAVE AN OBSESSION WITH FIRE- IT WAS A PRECAUTION!" He retorts back, screaming against the sound of the rushing water.

The fire continues to grow slowly despite the harsh drum of the water. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" Natsu roared, taken back by the height of the fire.

Both operatives are able to mentally assess the situation. "You use the water balloons, I'll use the sink!" Commands Lucy. Natsu nods, tossing his surprisingly handy water balloons in the air as Lucy flips her knife around. Then, in absolute sync, they sprint forward.

* * *

 **x ƪ(ˆ▽ˆ)ʃ x**

* * *

 **Lucy's POV**

As I race to the kitchen, I catch Natsu in the corner of my eye, smile evident on his face. His eyes are focused at the fire as he lunges to the flames.

I refocus myself on my own job. Sliding on my feet to the sink, I chop off the mutated part of the hose. I turn the sink on full blast, pointed at the fire. Under the protection of the cool water, Natsu turns off the stove and places a lid atop the burning hot pan. I notice splattered water balloon on the walls and pan.

With deep, staggering breaths, Natsu and I lean against the counters opposite the stove. "You ok, Luce?" He asks, facing the pan, grin still planted firmly on his face.

"Yup." I reply in monotone.

A few thoughtful moments later, loud, excitement-filled laughter- with a tinge of relief- fills the room.

"Uh... Natsu?

"Now, _that_ was fun." Natsu says breathlessly.

As a new wave of laughter overruns Natsu, I find his laughter to be contagious. Gasping, raging, and obnoxious laughs are drowning out the silent, "oh-my-god,-I-need-oxygen" laughs.

Actual _minutes_ later, when we're wiping our tears and letting go of lingering laughs, Natsu and I straighten up. Only then do I realize the situation. Drops of water fall from our faces, matting down Natsu's usually spiky drips down his hair and down the bridge of his nose before falling to the floor. My own SUIT is slightly unzipped at the top- showing off the top of my bare chest.

For some reason, I don't want to zip it back up- especially when he steps forward and cups my cheek with a rough, callused palm.

He stares into my eyes, almost daring me- nay- _begging_ me to step back. Even then, I can't follow his silent request. It's near impossible. Then he adds his other hand to my cheek. To my surprise, they're slightly shaky.

He tilts his head and open his mouth slightly, welcoming me with hesitance. Something stops me from raising myself up on my tiptoes and matching my own mouth to his. A shame, seeing as how it looks to be a perfect match. My lips against his warm, soft ones- fitting perfectly... Staring into his dark, onyx eyes... I begin to rise, eagerly. But, as I get closer, I see what's off about him- the force holding my wants back.

They're glossed. As if a layer of glass was place over his magical eyes; dull. He's looking, not at me, but past me, into the distance. It's a place void of all emotions. Blank.

" _L-Lisanna."_ The water choses that exact moment to turn off.

I stop elevating- a mere centimeter away from his lips. _Wait... What?!_

We both stop, pausing in shock. My hand doesn't slide down from his cheek nor his from mine. His eyes clear up and they're now filled with confusion- as if he had no idea what he just did-or was about to do.

The door bell rings breaking through the silence. I step back abruptly, flinging my hands back at my side. My cheeks heat up, but I barely notice or care.

His hands are left hanging in the hair-cupping an invisible face. He's looking down towards my shoes, frozen in place.

Moments later, the doorbell rings a second time. "You should get that."

Natsu straightens up, but still avoids my eye contact. "Yeah."

Biting my lip to stop myself from choking up, I turn. He grabs my wrist before I can walk away. "I'm so sorry."

I scoff, thanking my voice for not cracking, "Don't be sorry for avoiding a mistake."

He drops my wrist and I walk to my room, shutting the door and, inevitably, locking it.

I crawl into bed and curl up into a ball, letting the wave of emotions pass through me. I forget about all the tears that begged me to fall.

I sigh. _'What the hell am I doing?'_

* * *

 **x (X_x) x**

* * *

I wake up, seeing the sun setting through my window.

Determined to get something done, I turn to my desk and pull out my laptop. As I open it up, I start to sniffle and shiver.

I investigate the problem of my freezing temperature and see the water marks from where I was laying from my previously soaked hair. I quickly jump into the shower, turning the water to its hottest temperature in an attempt to wash away the cold.

I throw on my fuzziest robe. It rubs against my skin, soft as silk, but as warm as fur. As fast as possible, I run back into bed and pull my laptop back onto my lap.

I go to the hidden FTSA website and order all the weapons I had lost, used, or broke. After that, came the fun part.

I spent hours after hours looking for the perfect ball gown for the no other than the Raven's Ball. Finally, I found one. It could only be described as perfect. It was a dark red, strapless ball gown. It curved in at the top and spread out magnificently at he bottom. Multiple layers were organized randomly along the beginning of the bottom of the dress. Silver jewels decorated the tight waist as they twisted around the dress. The back of the dress was covered in large ruffles. (A/N google merleonline pretty-ball-gown-strapless-applique-sleeveless-floor-length-taffeta-prom-dresses-evening-dresses if you really want to see the dress I picked...)

I bit down on my pillow to keep from screaming. After staring at the price tag for a bit, I bought the dress to see that it would be delivered in 2-3 days. I sighed. This dress better be fucking awesome.

* * *

" _Luccyy! Lucy, no! Come here, baby!" An unfamiliar voice screams, while trying to sound bright fire and the smell of smoke rushes to the child's senses. She holds a doll while two adults are beating against the door that's separating them. One person, a woman, pounds on the door rhythmically. Her blonde hair strapped into a bun and her-_

* * *

I wake up, gasping, to the sound of rhythmical beating against my window. I absentmindedly pulled out a gun and pointed it to the window. My breathing becomes short and quick. Sweat covers my body and I'm not surprised to feel tears falling down my cheek. As my brain catches up, I realize it was just the tree outside my window, beating so hard against the glass that I feared it would break.

I haven't dreamt about my parents in a while... It's been some time since I've seen their faces, I almost forgot what they looked like entirely. As my breathing slows, I am able to see the situation logically.

Rain pounded against the window and flashes of lighting begun to appear. Thunder took over seconds later. I reluctantly got out of bed to check the lights with low hopes. As I guessed the electricity was out.

I walked out of the room, hearing Natsu's heavy snores. I attempted to sneak past him, but he woke even though a pin could've been heard dropping as I walk- or run, even. "Where you going?" He says sleepily, scratching his out place hair.

"Out." I answer. I still can't decide if I want to pretend like nothing happened or give him a 45 minute rant plus physical violence.

He looks at me up and down. "...You might want to change."

I let out a low sigh. "Natsu... Of course I'm gonna change! I'm not stupid, I wouldn't walk around in a SUIT! Can you stop being such a _fucking_ idiot?! Goddammit!"

I grab my keys from the hook and go back to my room, slamming the door. I decide I should probably change my clothes given my previous promise to Natsu.

Throwing on high-waisted jeans, a tank top, a soft jacket, brown boots, and a scarf, I storm out of the apartment. As I walk down the hall, I hear "Catch!" coming from behind me. I turn in time to see and catch the umbrella rocketing towards me. I glare at a smirking, shirt-less Natsu.

I turn around, away from his sight. He's so much more different than last yesterday. More relaxed... now that he isn't thinking about Lisanna...

I take out my phone and open a text to Levy:

Levy... Who's Lisanna and what do you know about her?

My finger hovers around the send button. Do I really want to know? Do I really want to invade Natsu's privacy like this?

I shrug to myself. _Fuck it._ I hit the send button.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Sorry this is a week late...

Anyways, what POV do you guys like best? Also thank you guys for all the support! I really appreciate each one of you... After all, you guys are my life.

So, you know how last chapter I really emphasized reviewing? Well, I had 200+ people on Chapter 13 last month and guess how many reviews? 2... That's 1/100 of people who review. *sigh*

Idc, its whatever... Anyways, please FF&R and live your life. Tell me what you think! ILYSM.

*Do you guys like an update every 2 weeks or a 1,500 chapter every week? (This one is 3,000+)


	15. Chapter 15

**Lucy's POV**

As I'm walking down the street, I get a text from Levy:

"Uhh, why the sudden interest Lucy?"

I sigh, _I'm asking the same question,_ before typing out, "Ohh just wonderin' "

Levy, with her obvious speed of light texting skills, texts back almost as soon as I send the message, "Uh, personally, I think you should ask Natsu... after all its kinda personal for him, ya know?"

"Uggh, Levy's right." I say out loud, making people send puzzling looks toward me.

I reluctantly type, "You're right... I'll just ask Natsu." with no intentions of doing so, when I get yet another message from Levy.

"Lisanna Strauss:

Age: 19

Height: 5' 7"

Sex: Female

Hair Color: White

Eye Color: Blue

Code Name: Kitten

Status: Deceased

Association: FTSA

Previous partners:

•The Man

•Woman of the Rain

•The She-Devil

•Salamander

… is that what ya needed Lucy?"

 _'No.'_ I think. "Yes," I reply. "I just wanted to understand more about her! Natsu mentions her often, that's why I was curious." I lie.

My phone buzzes again, I look down at it and read Levy's text. "Really? That's odd. I never would've guessed..."

I stop in the the middle of the sidewalk, causing some people to swerve out of the way. "Uh, why Levy?"

Suddenly, my phone rings- a blocked number.

When I press "answer", Levy is already talking.

"-well, Natsu was the Kitten's partner when she disappeared. Rumor has it they were lovers, but none of it is really proven. In fact, all we really know- for a fact- is that The Salamander and the Kitten left on a mission and only Natsu came back... You can't really play any of these cards, though. Anyway, I've said too much. I'm serious, Lucy. You should be talking to Natsu about it... it's his personal business. He's really emotional about it too... But," Levy's voice brightens up. "If he really is comfortable talking to you about it, then that's great. It just doesn't seem like him is all." Levy sighs. "If he really is getting better, I'll phone Titania and tell her about his prog-"

"No!" I yell into my phone, cutting Levy off. I look around cautiously before darting into the small street that housed the library.

I sigh and decide to confess to Levy. Partially. "Natsu doesn't mention Lisanna. Ever." I rake my brain for an excuse. "He, uh... He said her name in his sleep and it just got me curious, alright? You can't tell him about this phone call, okay? And definitely not Erza too."

A pause takes place so long, I wonder if she hung up. As I'm about to say her name, she sighs then speaks. "I assumed so. It'll be a while before Natsu gets over her. I think he blames himself for her disappearance. Poor guy. He hides all his emotions. Keeps em' bottled up."

I agree, "He has way to much ego and pride for his own good."

"Oh, Lucy, I gotta get going. Keep an eye out for him, kay? He's adapt at destroying things."

 _'I realized.'_ I think. "Bye, Levy."

Putting my phone away, I walk toward the some-what familiar shop. "Love and Lucky" it's called.

I open the front door, the bell jingling behind me. "Michelle?" I call out into the seemingly empty room.

I continue to search for my missing friend, but I give up after a while. _'She's probably off sleeping in an empty room.'_ I decide.

I hurriedly walk up the delicate stairs and into the massive library. Just seeing all the books creats a growing bubble of joy inside of me. I notice my footprints from my last visit are gone, but I don't make a big deal of it- or of the faint 'click' of the camera and flash of the light.

It takes me a minute or so, but I finally find the computer. I open up the search engine and try to find masks for the ball that will match my gown. In fact, just thinking about the flawless dress makes me giddy.

Surprisingly, it's _way_ more difficult than finding a dress. First of all, it has to match. Secondly, it has to match perfectly. Finally, _it has to match exactly._

But, an hour later, I find one that can quite possibly be the bane of my existence.

It's a black and silver masquerade mask that seems to flow above the head like a crown, but not quite. The silver designs are elegant and shy, yet somehow bold. The ones forming the crown have the most intricate designs I have ever seen. There's something mysterious about the mask, too. Like a deadly, beautiful aura. Black feathers surround one side of the mask and crawls to the height of the crown-like figure.

It would cover my face and nose, leaving only my lips showing.

I quickly register into the site and buy the expensive item. I begin to search for the appropriate shoes, before remembering I'd have to wear FTSA made shoes, hopefully special for the occasion. In fact, I was barely able to convince Levy to intercept my dress and have pockets sewn into them for weapons and such.

Hopefully, she'll match my shoes.

I log out of my computer regretfully when suddenly I hear the slam of the front door as it opens. I can just barely hear the sound of Michelle's voice.

"Am I late?! Oh my God, I'm late! I'm so sorry! I'm gonna get fired!" I can no longer hear words, but instead, loud, pathetic sobbing. I sprint down the halls until I find the stairs.

As I race down the stairs, I see Michelle laying in a heap on the floor, letting out uncontrollable sobbing.

"Oh my god, Michelle! Are yo-!"

"Ahhhhhhh!" She jumps up suddenly, taking a poorly executed karate ( I think...?) defensive stance.

Seeing me, she re-collapses and starts scream-crying. "Why did you,- do that- Lucy?!" She screams between hiccups.

"I, uh...! I'm sorry!... Why are you crying?"

"Because- I- was- lateee!" She breaks into another wave of wails.

"But... Don't you own this place?"

"Yes?" She says in between sniffles. "I got it passed down to me from my family!" I sigh as her crying commences.

I raise a quizzical eyebrow and without looking Michelle answers my unasked question. "They're deaaaaddd!"

Sighing, I get down on my knees and comfort the rather bipolar girl. I notice her outfit, and, again, it's the same as before.

"Um, I'm sure your parents wouldn't want you to waste money buying a new dress. You're ruining this one." I say, indicating her pink dress.

She sighs and looks down while pushing me away softly. After a moment, I hear her exhale. She looks up and all traces of tears and her crying are gone. She smiles, brushes herself off and asks politely, "Did you want something to eat?"

"Uh, an omelet would be great." I answer, still confused at her dramatic change.

"Okay! Coming right up!" Michelle makes her way into the kitchen and starts humming as she works.

I slide into one of the seats at the counter and search the room over with my eyes again. This time, I find signs that are inconveniently placed labeling the shop's areas.

I read off the signs one by one: Library, Kitchen, Bathrooms, Music Room. I stop once I get to there.

"Hey, Michelle?"

"Mmhmm?" She answers sweetly.

"What's the music room?"

"The music room? I don't know... We have a music room?"

"Yes...? It says it on the sign over there." I point at the signs.

Michelle looks over the counter at the indicates signs. "We have signs?"

I face palm. "Yes, you hav-"

"Here, maybe it's what this key is for..." She tosses me an older, brass key. On it, an "M" and "R" are etched into the back. "You can try to find it if you want. I'll call you when your food is ready!"

Without another word, I'm off and running in the direction the sign is pointing in.

* * *

 **x \\(0.O)/ x**

* * *

Somehow, I'm actually surprised when I get lost.

I sprinted down hallways and stairs that are in odd places. I eventually decide this place is like a maze and am determined to create a map. Just not yet.

Soon enough, I slow to a walk- not because I'm tired, but because I'm afraid off getting even more lost. As I slow down, I notice more and more details everywhere.

The painting hanging on the wall, the vase of dead flowers sitting on a stand, even something scratched onto the bottom of the wall.

I do a double take and squat down to the level of the letters. I can just barely make out the letters, my eyes searching for them with the beige flower wall paper, "MR" squished together. I look back at the key and put two and two together.

I stare at the wall in confusion for a moment, until I hit an idea. I reach my knuckle out and knock on the wall tentatively. A hollow sound echos back. It's a door.

I step back and survey the area. Soon, I spot a lamp mounted on the wall, giving off light. Unfortunately, I'm too short to reach it. So, I get a running start and jump off the wall to reach it. It moves slightly to the left, knocking down a thin cylinder-shaped rod.

I pick it up and look at it with a puzzled expression. As I study it, I notice one side of it is slightly worn while the other is perfectly smooth. I look back at the wall and run my hands over the wallpaper. Suddenly, I feel an almost unnoticeable bump in the center.

I put my finger on it and am certain of it's purpose. Taking the tiny rod, I slide it in and feel rather than hear a click.

I put both hands to the invisible door and push it. Nothing. I try sliding it to the sides. Nothing. Finally, I push it upwards. And, amazingly, it slides open.

As I enter, I let the door close behind me. I can't see, so I use my phone to light my way. This time, I'm faced with a 5 or 6 step staircase. I'm close enough that I can see a second door through the dark.

I climb it eagerly. _'This is it!'_ I thought. This time, I am presented with an elegant door containing a key hole placed in the middle. I pull out the brass key and unlock the door confidently.

My mouth drops open as I gasp at the magnificent scene before me.

The room is a creamy white, with elegant drapes covering windows that brighten the room. A chandelier hangs gloriously above the room. The floors are marble and glossy, despite the thick layer of dust that covers it all. Including the grand piano in the corner and row of various stringed instruments.

In another corner, polished white harp stands proud- with good reason.

I take my first steps around the room, dragging my hand across the complex designs dug in the wall. A catch my own face in a dusty mirror and laugh at the awe clearly spread across my face.

Finally, I reach the double glass doors and open both of them up eagerly, and, I have to admit, a bit dramatically. The banister overlooks the city showing me the mostly risen sun.

I find my self laughing joyfully at the beautiful place and spinning in festive circles. I'm not surprised to notice my vision become blurry. This place deserved a few tears.

I peek back inside and am absolutely delighted to see an identical banister pointing towards the west. One banister to see the rising sun, and one to see it fall.

I opened a grand wooden door that lead into a bedroom. I lift my foot to enter when I heard the faint ring of a bell.

With wide eyes, I slam the door shut, make a copy of both keys, lock down the fortress, put away the cylinder, and sprint down the hall as if my life depended on it it- and even more so.

* * *

 **x \\(˘̩̩̩▽˘̩̩̩)/ x**

* * *

"So, did you find the room?" Michelle asks, dismissing my gasps for air and my run down appearance.

My face brightened just thinking about it and I open mouth to describe the fantastic place. But closed it back up. Did I really want Michelle to know about this? My own wonderful paradise?

"No, I didn't." I say, faking displeasure.

"Oh, what a shame." Michelle says as I eat my omelet quietly; shamefully.

I finish up my omelet and slide Michelle a ten dollar bill.

"No, it's on the house!" Michelle protests. "You're like, my only customer!"

But, I insist.

Before leaving, I look back at the hallway leading into the maze. I promised myself I'd come back to chart it out, but for now I needed to get back to Natsu. We have a very important meeting after all.

* * *

 **x (◦'** **ں** **ˉ◦) x**

* * *

 **Natsu's POV**

After Lucy leaves, I wander around the house for a moment before I decide to stop procrastinating and prepare for the upcoming events. The Ball takes place in two days and the meeting is tonight. I hop on my protected laptop. It can stop viruses and alerts me for bugs. It's password sensitive and impossible to hack. It has it's own special signal so even during this power outage I can go on.

Anyway, I decide to search for a mask for the masquerade ball. I lay on my stomach on Luce's bed surfing the internet.

After a while, I get bored without Lucy here to tease and decide to get ready for the meeting. But, that's fairly easy as all I have to do is dress in my SUIT. Lucy will brief me on our background. I hope.

I sigh and let my mind water. I think of last night and, finally, Lisanna. Usually, I don't allow myself to think of her, but no one's here and, if I'm honest, I don't have the self will to not think of her.

I imagine her right next to me, piercing blue eyes that can be playful and carefree one moment and furious and sharp the next. Her short white hair that surrounds her face. I see her in her shorts laughing next to me. Her white, smooth, irresistible skin makes me want to touch her. I want to run my hands over her cheeks; to feel her again, but in my heart, I know she's gone.

I miss her so _damn_ much _._ I don't realize I'm crying until I hear myself whimper- something I never do. _'It's my fault she's gone.'_ I think bitterly. I'm furious with myself. I hate to cry and reach to wipe them away. The image of Lisanna is flickering. Instead of sweet, beautiful Lisanna, I now see a bloodied broken Lisanna.

She's staring at me as if asking me why I didn't save her.

 _'You promised to protect me! You promised!"_ She screams at me, with dark, hollow eyes.

"I-I tried! I'm so sorry!" I scream back at her. She steps toward me and I flinch.

" _Why!? I though you loved me! I trusted you, Natsu!"_

She places her pale hands on my shoulders. The room darkens as the sun get blocked by clouds. The power outage wasn't helping either.

"Why, Natsu? Natsu? Natsu!" I shut my eyes, wishing for her to disappear, then I feel guilty over it. "Natsu!?" My eyes flash open and Lucy's there, eyes wide and concerned.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. "I-" I start but she cuts me off.

She wraps me into a hug on the couch. I curl up next to her, pathetically. She notices my reluctance to be held. "You were there for me," She whispers. "And now I'm here for you... Partner."

I let her hold me. It's then that I realize I would put my life in her hands if needed and completely trust her with it. I also had a feeling that she understands what having a difficult past feels like.

"Lucy..." I pull away from her and look into her eyes. "I'm sorry." I speak honestly about last night .

"I know." She says quietly breaking eye contact with me, knowing what I was talking about. "I know." She nods slightly.

I sigh, glad to have that out and my eyes get dragged to the floor. There, on the carpet mind you, were muddy footprints. Upon further inspection, I see it to be from I heels. I look to Lucy's feet. Her high heeled boots are on. And they're muddy.

The worst part of all is that I know she's gonna make me clean it up.

"Lucy..." I mumble grumpily and point at the mud stains.

"Hmm?" She sits up straight and follows my finger to the stains.

She gasps. I roll my eyes, _'Here it comes.'_ I think lazily.

…

"Ewwwwwww!" She pulls off her boots and holds it away from her. "My poor babies!" She glares at as though it's my fault. "Clean them." She orders angrily.

"But-" I protest, although it's useless.

"Clean it! And the carpet too." She demands, crinkling her nose at the "disgusting sight' she dragged in.

"But you-" I try again.

"Do it!" She screeches, shoving the boots in my face.

I sigh and snatch the boots away from her. I stand up pouting and bring them to the bathroom to wash. I hear Lucy jump from the couch to the hardwood floor of the kitchen. Then I hear her slip and fall because of her non-grip socks.

When I come back with her clean boots, breakfast has been made. An omelet.

* * *

 **x (T.T) x**

* * *

 **Third Person POV**

2 hours left till midnight and Lucy was busy prepping Natsu. She gave him their background story and steps.

So far so good, but Lucy wasn't quite sure if Natsu was awake or not.

"... And we'll both wear masks, so they won't see our faces. I'm fairly certain it will be some of Jiemma's goons and not him himself..." Natsu continued to half listen about her "non-violence except if necessary" rules and such, but honestly, these past few days have been to much drama and too little action for Natsu.

He was ready to fight. To run, to jump, to throw a few punches... Soon Natsu was lost in his own thoughts, daydreaming about flames and fists flying and being returned. The "class" passed by quicker after that.

Before long, Natsu and Lucy were suiting up and strapping on wires as well as knives and bugs. The moon was high up in the middle of the sky by the time the agents were ready to go.

Natsu was pumped to the max, but he somehow still noticed the dread and fright that just barely shone through Lucy's eyes.

"Hey, Luce... You okay?" he asks softly.

She looks up at him and tilts her head, "Yes, of course." She smiles brightly, but her eyes betray her. "You ready to go?"

Natsu knew she would deny her true feelings, but that only made him more determined to find out her secret that she was clearly hiding.

"Yeah." He replied, letting his excitement show. _'Maybe I should ask Levy...'_ Natsu thought, unaware of what was on the line.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Thanks for waiting! I truly am sorry, but i've been busy...

Anyway, FFR (follow, favorite, review), you guys are bomb, etc., etc.

Luv u and goodnight. **LONGEST CHAPTER YET**


	16. Chapter 16

**Natsu's POV**

I stop, signaling Lucy to do the same too late as she runs into my back.

"What are you doing?" Lucy whispers angrily- so close I can feel her warm breath against my neck.

I turn my head to the side so I'm just able to get a glimpse of her. She looks way different than usual. It's almost unnerving to see her typically sunshine colored hair, completely, midnight black. The full moon above us shines down on her, giving her happy, joyful person a ghostly aura.

"Shh..." I reply, peeking around the brick wall separating me from 6508 Sabertooth Street. I survey the area, scanning every square inch, when I feel delicate, soft finger running through my now jet black hair. I tense.

"What are you doing?" I say awkwardly, staring blankly at the empty street.

She giggles softly. "Your hair is so soft!"

I sigh and quickly turn around, grab Lucy's hands and face her, inches away from the tip of her nose.

"We're on a mission." I state seriously, looking into her soft brown eyes.

"I know!" She replies happily. "Exciting, isn't it?"

"Lucy..." I begin. I pause. For a split second, Lucy's carefree eyes turned into one of fear, but not of the present nor the future. It's one of the past.

Lucy's eyes refill with honest excitement, laced with confusion from my blanked face. "Are you okay?"

"Are you?" I reply immediately, looking at her seriously.

"Of course? Look, Natsu, I'm perfectly fine. It's you I'm worrying about."

I must've blanked out in my thoughts, because Lucy startles me by poking me on the nose. "So... let's go!"

The sound of her enthusiastic voice allows blood to pump through my body with quickness, reminding me of how much I missed this. It comes to my attention that Lucy might me craving a fight as well.

I peek back out, but this time, three people stand in the middle of the road, staring in opposite directions. I alert Lucy of the situation using only hand signals. The bulge under their shirts alert me of their guns. We decide it's better not to show up and surprise them.

I stand up straight with Lucy following my lead. Together we both walk to the group. They turn to us in creepy unison.

"We need to talk."

* * *

 **x (-_ -") x**

* * *

 **Lucy's POV**

I try to be brave and show the excited "OMG-I'm-on-a-mission-with-the-Natsu-freaking-Dragneel", but inside I'm shaking. I already did all I could to persuade Natsu to dye his hair. He doesn't know, but I applied makeup everywhere to make sure I looked nothing like me.

Darker skin and sunken cheeks were all part of my plan.

If Jiemma were there, I would've fallen apart completely. My mind is being overcome by fear, and, for the first time in a long time, I feel like the child who suffered his wrath. Images of a red, smoke-filled sky fill my mind.

The sound of the unfamiliar low voices force me back into reality. To my surprise, Natsu walks in front of me protectively. I open my mouth to protest against the fact that I don't need protection, when Natsu emits a low growl.

I glare at the back of his head, but I stay behind.

"So speak." Natsu replies roughly.

The person in the middle scoffs. "Not here." He said looking around suspiciously. "Follow me."

The man who speaks leads us while the people who had flanked him, followed closely behind us.

* * *

 **x (•_¤) x**

* * *

 **Third Person POV**

The men and woman each met Natsu's deep, black eyes- that had somehow turned harsh and unforgiving in a matter of seconds- yet he held it until each one of them rolled their eyes and looked away.

Natsu snarled, "You called us down here, so what the hell do you want?"

The group seated in front of them merely raised their eyebrows.

Natsu slams his fist on the table and as the surface wobbles threateningly, the female who happens to be tipping her chair back, scrambles to grab on to the table as she yelps in surprise.

The two males on each side of her grin wickedly. "We're... in need of your assistance. We need someone with your," He paused, resting his head on his interlocked hands. "Specific capabilities."

The two agents look at each other- as if arguing using only facial expressions.

The watch on the silent man beeped once, barely audible. He turns toward the blond male. "Rufus."

"Yes, yes, I know." Rufus replied, dismissing the dark haired man's warning. Rufus smiled and turned to the cautious couple. "Dobengal is always such a fuss." The silent one- Dobengal- growled.

Rufus laughed with a deep, elegant voice. "Yeah, yeah." He held out a large hand to the woman who sat in between the two men. She hurriedly placed a file in his open hand- her eyes scared and suspicious, begging for his approval. "Very well, Yukino."

Lucy hid a flinch at the names of those people. They sounded so familiar and yet...

Clearing his throat, Rufus hands over the faded, yellow folder. "Should you choose to accept our request, follow the instructions listed there. For now, we must go."

And just like that, the trio got up and turned a corner, disappearing from the agents.

* * *

 **x (O_O) x**

* * *

Lucy felt sick as they strode out of the building. She wanted to puke, but had nothing to throw up. The names of those people... They brought back memories she had never hoped to remember.

Then suddenly, she was there. Voices, screaming, but not a single soul in sight. The dark, smoke-filled air, absorbed her.

And then she saw herself. Standing in the middle of the wreckage, fires starting to die down, but fighting as they went.

A blond little girl, carrying nothing but a small doll. _Her_ doll.

As much as Lucy fought the memory, it forced itself into her mind, and she remembers with a start what happens next. The next page of this tragic story that happens to be her life.

Lucy opens her mouth to scream, to warn the scared child, but her voice wouldn't work. She tried to run to the poor girl who's eyes widen at the sound of helicopter blades spinning towards her, but every step Lucy took seemed to yank her backwards.

Two men exited the helicopter and walked toward her. They called back to their general questioning what to do with the girl.

Then the general exited the copter and the clarity of his appearance made Lucy freeze, as her eyes flickered to the trembling girl. Then the general stopped and with the face that still haunts her dreams, he grinned wickedly at her, as if he could see her. The grin held no warmth, no welcome, no surprise.

And Lucy screamed.

Natsu had seen right through her false bravery and faked excitement from the very start. Her eyes held pain and fear in a way that made fire run through his veins.

And the way she was now, barely able to walk, but insisting she was "fine". It _hurt_ him, somehow. Hurt more than seeing Yukino, the beautiful woman that resembled Lisanna. And then she had collapsed and Natsu, who never loses control of his body, froze. The soft _thud_ behind him told him what had happened and the sight of her fallen body confirmed it.

Natsu ran to his side, fear coming in waves he had experience only once before.

He check her pulse and wondered why he wasn't surprised when it was racing. All of his previous medical knowledge left him as he scooped her up in is muscled arms and ran to the place he now called home.

* * *

 **x (=_—) x**

* * *

He stayed seated on the chair next to her bed for the last 24 hours. In all that time, he hadn't left the room once- not to eat, not to sleep, not to get air. No, instead he either folded his arms and glare at her limp body or paced around the room, attempting to plan ahead.

Every once in a while, Natsu would hear her murmur something. Twice it was Jiemma, and once it had been: Mom, Yukino, Rufus, Dobengal, and to his surprise, Natsu.

Waiting for her to wake killed him. As a spy, he had waited much longer for intel, but for some reason, each second passed by like an eternity. In hell. Without her.

Somehow, being without her was worse than hell, and that scared the shit out of him.

For a while, to pass time, he studied her in her suit. The size of her small feet, her long, smooth legs, the curves of her hips, the waves of hair that fell across her large chest. He studied her facial structure, her pink lips, and full cheeks along with smeared makeup she made runny with her tears, all the way up to her delicate soft, brown eyes.

The ones that stared right back at him.

He expected her to yell at him, punch him maybe. But, instead she just smiled softly and yawned. "I haven't been completely honest with you..."

* * *

 **x ( ꒪⌓꒪) x**

* * *

So, she told him the story, the whole story. The story about hoe they came, bringing destruction down on her town, and somehow surviving despite the odds. Then she told him about being captured my Jiemma and used as a slave... for not only cleaning and working.

Every night Jiemma had summoned her to his quarters and used her for pleasure. Until she ran and promised herself she would be strong- she would get strong.

By the end of her tale, his eyes were full of a newfound hatred for Jiemma, but also guilt. Guilt because he treated her like shit and didn't even consider her awful past. He mentally hit himself for being such a dick. Over and over again.

He wanted to tell her about himself, share the dark secret that enveloped him. But he couldn't. As if God himself forced him to choke on his words. He trusted her more and more over the past few hours, and he wants her to feel the same way... But how can she do that when she starts to think of him as a monster? Someone who didn't have the power to protect his friends-his partner-, only his gods-damned self.

So he kept his mouth shut, forced to watch silent tears slide down her face as she ended her tale.

"Lucy..." He began, his mouth searching for words.

"It's okay." She sniffled. "I'm... over it. I'm fine." She smiled, but it was broken and weak.

Tears filled her eyes and he knew she was gone again- lost in her own memories.

Suddenly, he was angry. "No you're not!" Natsu slams his fist down on the nightstand angrily. "Don't tell me everything is fine when it isn't!"

Then time stopped around the couple. Lucy stared at Natsu, shocked, and he glared right back at her- fire in is black eyes.

And then Lucy broke. She sobbed violently and Natsu opened his eyes wide- his own heart breaking.

"No! Luce, I didn't mean it like that!" He ran a callused hand through his hair. "God dam..." Natsu mumbled. "Damn it, Lucy. Why do you do this to me?" He said the words he thought so many times, and for some reason, it came out easily.

* * *

 **x (ˆ௰ˆ) x**

* * *

With the sob fest over, Natsu ordered Chinese and they both ate as they went over the file they had received. They were to create a bomb for 10 million dollars. They had 10 weeks at most to create a bomb that is capable of destroying all of Magnolia. They were to report back to Big Bang every Tuesday. After that, they had eaten in silence.

Lucy excused herself from the table and got ready for bed, exhausted despite sleeping for a whole day.

Natsu got out of the steaming shower, a towel draped lazily across his torso. He hummed as he walked out of the bathroom he now called his own.

"Natsu..."

He jumped up at the white- robed figure standing at her doorway. His face heated up, despite his silent pleads. "Uh... Hi, Luce.." Natsu attempted to cover is junk casually, but failed horribly.

He expected her to be red, but instead she calmly said, "Will you sleep with me tonight?"

His face heated up more as he stammered for words. Lucy laughed softly. "Not like that, dummy. Just with me..."

He swallowed (absolutely nothing), "Uh, yeah." He coughed awkwardly. "Sure."

Throwing on gray sweatpants, Natsu debated a shirt. _It's a rather warm night..._ He told himself, tossing the t-shirt behind him.

He knocked on her wooden door.

"Come in." She called lightly.

He opened the door to see her sitting on the right side of the bed in her robe. And coughed awkwardly. _This is fine..._ He told himself. _We're just partners. It's normal._

He lay on the left side of her bed. Somehow, the bed seemed smaller yet too big. He couldn't get far enough for it to not be intimate, but at the same time, her small body seemed cold and lonely all the way over there...

No! What was he thinking? They're partners. Nothing more and nothing less.

* * *

 **x (ﾟДﾟ) x**

* * *

Lucy awoke, gasping from her nightmare. This time, it was Jiemma's vicious grin.

She became aware of the heat in her room and the strong arm wrapped around her waist. Natsu...

What was she thinking?! She couldn't afford a relationship to bloom. Anymore than it already had, at least.

She needed to go. To get out and rethink her thoughts. Luckily, she knew just the place.

* * *

 **x (-_-) x**

* * *

Lucy arrived at Love and Lucky at about 3 am. She jangled the door. Locked. But, no worries. Lucy had long since copied Michelle's key to the café, and she would bet Michelle would have happily gave her a key anyway.

Lucy opened the door and made sure to lock it too as she ventured into the building. She pulled out her copy of the large, brass key and frowned as it wasn't nearly as elegant.

In a minute, she had found the brass key and replaced it with her own copy, labeling it "MR"

She wandered the hallways, taking her time to map out the monstrous labyrinth. She reached the MR (this place really needed a new name) and opened up the wall, then up the stairs and the giant door.

She opened the grand door, awaiting the darkness of the room, but instead Lucy was met with light. Moon light. Looking up, she notes the roof is dome shaped. And, all of it. Is. Glass.

The moon was directly above the roof and it made the room _sparkle._ Not one place Lucy had ever seen, was greater than this. Was more perfect than this.

She approached the grand piano with caution- as if she was approaching a great stag. She reached it and began playing. First she played the song that was left on the piano. Something that she played poorly. The song was complex, but Lucy could see the stunning beauty that told the story of a life of pain. If only she could hear the masterpiece played by a musician far greater than she. Giving up, Lucy played freely, creating a song unconsciously. Her own masterpiece.

* * *

 **x ┒(⌣˛⌣)┎ x**

* * *

Natsu felt her slide out of his possessive arms the second she had done it, but he kept his breathing steady as his eyes flashed open. The moment she was out the door, he was up, throwing on an abandoned t-shirt and his ever present leather jacket. He trailed her to an old, run-down building. One that she had a key to.

He shook his head as she locked the door, but quickly found an alternate way in the building. He arrived in time to see her place a simple, plain key in a drawer for the exchange of a more mature one. As she turned the corner, he had grabbed the key and followed her painstakingly through out the maze of hallways.

Now he stood behind her as she began recording the notes to her song. Her quick scrawl was still elegant on the old yellow paper.

With each note, Natsu felt more and more as if he was intruding, walking into someone's mind; their memories.

Natsu began to back out slowly, when a gust of wind blew open the double doors that lay to the left. Shocked at first, a smile spread across Lucy's face. "When the days are cold and the..." She said as she wrote, pausing and putting the pencil to her lip every now and then.

Suddenly, as Natsu proceeded to exit, Lucy laughed out loud, combing her hair back with her hand. "What am I doing?" She murmured to herself.

Lucy sighed and picked up the paper strewed everywhere. She placed it in a neat pile above the piano. With groggy, almost defeated steps, Lucy trudged into a bedroom as Natsu ducked behind the doorway. He peeked back out in time to see a white and gold canopy bed.

Deciding his time with her was over, Natsu snuck back to the entrance of the building and replaced all the keys he took. He stared at the floor above longingly, wanting to explore, but the sound of a jingling doorknob encouraged his other choice.

* * *

 **x (p _ p) x**

* * *

Natsu lay in her bed, staring at the sunrise that would have looked gorgeous from the library. Half an hour after the sunrise, Lucy arrived, apologizing for the extended time of her "walk". Natsu simply nodded. After all, it wasn't like he didn't know what the privacy of that room meant to her.

Unknowingly, Natsu drifted off to sleep. When he awoke, another, smaller body was pulled against him by his own protective arm. She snored softly, her head resting on his other arm. Natsu smiled at the sight of it and poked her little button nose.

To his surprise, she smiled and snuggled closer against his bare chest.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Here you go :)

FFR plz!

Thanks for everything! I owe it all to you guys...

I decided to give their relationship a push and write in mostly third person. It was fun, but mostly just different.


	17. Chapter 17

**Third Person POV**

Lucy and Natsu waded through the brown, murky water wearing their hydrophobic suits.

"Ugh." Lucy shuddered as she felt solid objects flow around her, shouldering her small backpack. She restrained herself from shining the tiny, cold flashlight in her hand at the mess around her. Instead, she only shined it forward; away from the filth around her.

"I know, I know..." Muttered Natsu as he frantically turned a sheet of blueprints around. "It should be around here somewhere..."

"Just give me the fucking map!" Lucy barked in a hushed tone, already in a piss poor mood from the smell alone.

With a quick glare Natsu handed the map of sewers to her and she grabbed at it angrily.

They both stopped and Lucy studied the map for a moment before sighing, "Natsu... We missed my entrance."

Natsu walked up behind her, his body heat seeping in even through the SUIT. He peered over her head, picking out the line labeled "Princess" (much to Lucy's dismay) and the other labeled "Salamander".

"Ahh, I see... I was holding it backwards!" Natsu said proudly. The "Princess" next to him rolled her eyes.

"I'm gonna head back to my entrance, you keep the 'prints. You need it way more than I do anyway." She said with a teasing smile.

She turned around, satisfied with his lack of a retort, and begun to walk away. "Be careful, Lucy." Natsu said quietly.

She looked over her shoulder, "Yeah, I wi-" Cut off by his solemn face, she turned towards him completely. "Natsu?" She questioned, her tone soft this time.

He was looking to the away, giving Lucy only a side view of his frustrated and surprisingly furious face. She watched him swallow, his Adam's apple moving up and down as he tried to find words.

His eyes closed momentarily, and Lucy fought the urge to rush towards him- fully knowing he wouldn't appreciate the gesture.

"Nats-?"

"I won't let him hurt you again, Lucy. Never." He spoke quietly, but his voice were strong and sure. "If he...ever _touches_ ," He spat out the word. "you again, he won't live to see another day." Not a threat, a promise, she realized, seeing the truth in his eyes as he turned toward her.

She could only search for words that never came as his sharp eyes bore into her soft ones.

"Go." He ordered, his voice deep. "It starts, officially, in 10 minutes. We have to be there by then."

"Okay." Lucy managed to choke out. She turned and walked as fast as she could without running, trying helplessly to prevent her shaking hands.

 _Damn it, Natsu why do you do this to me?_ She thought, feeling her heart ready to jump right out of her

chest.

* * *

 **X (*,*) X**

* * *

Lucy felt three soft taps on her wrist- her watch marking the start of her five minutes left.

"Shit." Lucy mumbled, racing through the underground tunnels. Looking around frantically, she found a dull red marker, barely noticeable.

She steered herself towards the left, eyeing an old drain pipe. With a groan, she shimmied up the sticky pole, failing at her attempt to leave the mystery substance on the dark walls untouched. As she pushed open an overhead manhole cover.

The new surrounding showed a vertical, narrow tube, barely fitting a rusted ladder and Lucy herself. At the top of the channel, she hoisted herself up and crawled towards a dim light in the middle of what Lucy assumed was an air vent she was now crawling in.

She looked down through the metal cage separating the vents from the room. It seemed to be an empty bathroom stall.

Looking back, she saw the edge she lifted herself onto looked to be gone; replaced by the one of the vents' "dead ends".

"Clever." She muttered to herself. She tensed as she lifted the semi-heavy metal tray. She placed it beside her and reached into one of her many pockets, pulling out a wire with a camera attached to the end of it..

She lowered the wire down a couple centimeters, just enough for the camera to survey the room. Lucy paused straining to hear anything. Finally, she heard a small click, signaling no life forms in the bathroom as well as a complete scan for cameras in the room. She didn't hesitate to tap the button on the end of the wire, disabling all the cameras in the room for 10 seconds.

Then, as nimble as a cat, she jumped down, making a sound no human could possibly hear. She stripped in a matter of five seconds and balled up her SUIT into a compressed ball and threw it up into the vents. A mini arm extension of her watch slid from it's chamber and tapped her wrist, before retracting back into the watch- telling her she had three seconds left.

She hurriedly grabbed her small backpack she received from FTSA that morning and lifted it over her head with perfectly placed arms. She grabbed the string dangling down with her mouth and pulled.

A loud "pop" could be heard as the pack forced itself inside out, the rose colored dress falling onto her perfectly. Her watched beeped once, alerting her of the cameras that had started working once again.

With perfect nonchalance, she left the stall, looking down at her silver shoes that were hidden under the ones built into her SUIT. Praying no cameras were on her, she tapped her heels together twice, two heels automatically unfolding into place- a heel that doubled as a blade on the opposite side.

She walked towards the mirror facing the stalls. She applied make up and put up her hair into a perfect, elegant bun, while taking in the marble restroom.

Everything was a shade of black or gray- even the napkins. The bathroom itself was rather dim. Somehow, even the light made everything look darker.. She was grateful when she left the isolation of the bathroom.

As soon as she stepped out of the doorway, a small man spotted her and hurried towards her. When he reached her ushered her away. "Come, come. Hurry, you're late." He was an inch shorter than Lucy and looked around 40 with a round, bald head.

"Wait, I-" Lucy stammered in confusion, but the man continued to push pull her along through the empty hallways.

Suddenly, one side of the hallway showed a ginormous ballroom. Contrary to the bathroom, it was gold, and filled with light. The small man rushed over to the railing and look over the shiny, white bar and cursed. On the other side of the ballroom, a large, grand staircase led to the main floor. There, a man stood, calling out the names of rich people. Some of the names Lucy recognized from T.V.

They were adorned with pearls and diamonds and walked with a haughty step to them.

The man walked quickly, slowing down every now and then to pull out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his forward. He turned around, walking backwards. "You're gonna have to be come down through the main staircase after they're done, okay? Just walk down the staircase, join the crowd, and face the stairs again. Do you have a mask?"

Lucy swallowed and nodded quickly. She ruffled through her dress to pull out her silver and black mask that would match perfectly with her shoes.

 _Oh, Levy, thank God!_ She thought remembering the dazzling heels.

Lucy slipped on the mask and looked towards her guide for further instructions.

He looked her up and down, nodding. "Okay, I need to return to my post, keep walking around the banister until you get to the stairs. Good luck!" And with that, he left her standing there.

* * *

 **X (´╹** **〽╹** **`) X**

* * *

"And lastly, but certainly not least, Bernadett Vidacs!" Boomed the proud announcer. A wave of claps washed over the crowd, admiring the beautiful woman, dressed in a long black gown. She descended down the stairs, smiling and waving, before stopping next to a group of people.

"Now, I believe that's all we have for this eve- Oh, excuse me!" The man announced in surprise. "We have one more woman! Uh, your name, Miss? Ah, Lucy, just Lucy! Our mystery woman!" Said the man, trying to recover from the surprise.

The crowd turned back to the staircase in time to see the mystery woman come around the corner.

* * *

 **X (*-*) X**

* * *

Taking a deep breath, Lucy had stepped into the light and started down the steps. She had barely enough self will to stop her blood from rushing to her face. Instead, in hopes of fitting in, she stuck her chin up and folded her hands atop each other with a collected aura.

Gasps came from the crowd in blinks, staring at the blond, mystery woman, but two men in the crowd were studying her closer than the rest. Surprisingly, it wasn't the one pink hair or dark eyes that caught her attention. No, she was looking somewhere else. At someone with dark black hair and a shy smile.

She didn't even notice Natsu and she walked across the ballroom to the dark-haired man with kind eyes.

* * *

 **Natsu's POV**

For the first time, I was completely speechless. She walked with a certain grace that told everyone she knew what she was doing. Even with the mask, I knew exactly who wore the face behind it.

She walked towards me, but all I could do was swallow nothing but air. She smiled innocently and I thought she looked everything like a princess. Her mask looked like a crown that hid all of her features except her sparkling eyes and soft, pink lips- _oh_ her lips.

I took a step towards her, my hands aching to touch her. Even as I've touched her before, I couldn't help but long to get my hands on her.

Everything she wore complemented her perfectly. The red dress squeezed her waist- speaking of things I couldn't wait to get my hands on- as diamonds circled around it. It was strapless with only her breasts holding it up. Silk covered the dress, arranged in fluffy layers. The silk parted in the front, showing the tulle falling until it reached the ground.

It was utterly breathtaking. Suddenly, with a force greater than my own self control, I felt the need for her. A hunger that was starved- and desperately needed to be fed.

So you can only imagine my surprise when she walked past me.

* * *

 **Third Person POV**

The pull drawing Lucy towards the stranger was so evident; so clear, she knew nothing could be wrong with it. She felt dozens of pairs of eyes staring at her, but she couldn't bring herself to break the contact between them.

The announcer cleared his throat, apologizing for the minor surprise and all the eyes turned back toward him. Well, most of them at least.

Lucy neared the stranger and turned on her heel to stand by him. "Hi." She whispered to him.

"Hey. You new here?" He whispered back, having to lean down to her ear in order to do so.

She smiled, looking at the announcer while speaking. "You could say that." Even without see him, she knew his eyebrow was raised.

He chuckled in a low, quiet tone and Lucy marveled at the smoothness of it. "What's your name?" Lucy asked.

"What's yours?" He replied smoothly. Lucy flicked her eyes towards him and he shrugged, "Lady's first."

"What," Lucy said sarcastically. "Did you not hear announcer say my name or something?"

"Sorry, I was too busy looking at the face to hear the name." He retorted, making Lucy blush.

She glared at him, "Were you not aware of the mask? You couldn't even see my face."

"I didn't need to see all of it to know what it hid."

She rolled her eyes and pushed down her blush. "My name's Lucy. And you are...?"

"My names Rogue, and can I have this dance?" Her head shot up in surprise. Ivan was standing on the balcony with a smooth, midnight black mask that covered his whole face. She looked around and saw the band picking up series of stringed instruments and horns.

The people around her were coupled up already, leaving herself, Rogue, and multiple men and women socializing on the side lines. She crinkled her nose at him. "Do I have a choice?"

He looked into her eyes and smiled, "Nope." And with that, he led her in a sequence of gentle twirling and well-placed steps.

* * *

 **X (^_^) X**

* * *

With a smile larger than the rest, she was still dancing with this mysterious stranger hours later, ignoring the pain in her feet

She noticed everything about him, from the sweep of his black hair, to slant of his smile, to the way he looked at her like he was the luckiest person in the world, to the feeling of his hand on her lower back.

What she didn't notice, was the way everyone stood in a circle around them swooning at the upcoming couple- except for a certain pink-haired man.

Then the music abruptly sped up and they were dancing faster, and faster, in sync with her heartbeat. Then she was in in the air, looking down at a laughing Rogue, feeling as if she were flying. As fast as it rose, the climax fell, and somehow, she ended up being dipped, low to the floor.

Time seemed to freeze when she looked up at his eyes that held a reddish tint to it.

Her eyes closed and the sound of her heart thumping consumed her, because suddenly his lips were on her own in a deep kiss. Their lips moved together like a movement that had been practiced a million times before... It was utter perfection. The kiss was clean and collected to the viewers she wasn't aware of, but on the inside, the temptation to go further was breaking the surface of reality.

Luckily, someone arrived next to them, clearing his throat. Both their eyes popped open, their lips still attached. It felt like the kiss had lasted forever, but in actuality, it was a mere couple of seconds. She smiled bashfully against his lips before the couple separated.

When Rogue looked up, his eyes widen quickly. "Uncle Ivan?!"

…

…

 _Uncle?!_

Lucy coughed to hide her surprise. "What?" She half choked, slightly breathless, looking up at Rogue.

She was surprised to see him looking at his feet. "Lucy... this is my uncle, Ivan. He's been, uh, taking care of me since I was young."

She smiled at Ivan with fake sweetness. "Oh, I know who this is Rogue," She turned to Rogue with a raised eyebrow. "This is his party, you know."

Ivan, who towered over her, looked down at her in surprise. He paused, studying her face from what he could. Lucy held her breath as she waited for him to speak. "Well, she sure is quite a bit brighter than you, Rogue! Anyway just checking in on my favorite nephew, and it seems he's doing just fine." He winked at Lucy.

She laughed, uncomfortable, silently praying for him to leave. Ivan noted the awkwardness soon after and coughed. He nodded to the pair before weaving around the dancers who took their place on the floor once again.

Rouge itched the back of his head. "So your uncle?" Lucy put a hand on her hip.

"Uh. Yeah..." He said avoiding her eyes.

She smiled."Not a bad title if you ask me."

He finally looked up at her. "If that's the way you wanna think of it," He shrugged. "Then no, not at all." They stood in the center of the room studying each other as pairs twirled around them, until another someone cleared their throat.

"You mind if I take her off your hands?"

The couple teared their eyes off each other to look at this new person. Lucy's eyes opened her eyes at the pink tuffs emerging from the top of the flame red mask.

Rogue looked at her in confusion and she nodded to him. He turned his eyes to Natsu, ready to glare, but was surprised when eyes were already on him, glaring with a certain fury he couldn't name- or match. Rouge turned on his heel and left swiftly.

Lucy watched the exchange without really seeing- lost in thought with the events of the night, mainly the one that took place before the dance. Her breath was taken away with the new look that he wore. While Rogue had looked calm and soft, yet still with a certain aura of authority, Natsu looked dangerous. Like going home with him would be the best and worst choice you've ever made. But also if you happened to bump into him you'd be dead.

She swallowed "Natsu, I-" Her words were taken away by the storm she saw forming in his eyes.

Hearing her voice, his eyes softened. "Did he hurt you?"

"No."

"Good." He said roughly before guiding her through the crowds of people to an unnoticeable corner.

"The man you were dancing with..."

Lucy sucked in a breath. Opening her mouth to say something- _anything._

"That's Ivan's nephew."

"I know." She whispered, not being able to look him in the eyes. How could she when she forgotten about him, about the mission?

Then he surprised her. "You need to get closer to him- for the sake of the mission. Good job getting close to him in the first place. I need you to stick in the spotlight. I'll need cover to get out of this room and into the hallways. Make a distraction or something. You have five minutes."

Lucy looked down, understanding his business-like tone. "Okay, got it." She finished setting a timer on her innocent looking watch.

"And Lucy,"

"Yeah?" She answered, tinkering with her watch.

His body was next to hers in a moment and she froze completely.

She was stuck staring at his chest. It rose and fell steadily unlike her own.

He stepped back too soon and her hair crumbled down her shoulders, free of the bun. It cascaded in curls that cupped her face. His open palm showed her silver bobby pins. "There we go." He said breathy; ragged. "Much better."

She grabbed the pins from him her heart beating faster than it should.

"I- Natsu?" She looked back up at him and somehow wasn't surprised when he wasn't in sight.

She sighed weaving through the crowd, calming her heart and gathering her thoughts. Struggling to get back on track, she remembered her order.

 _A distraction? That'd be nice._

* * *

 **Author's Note**

… Okay, but did you like it?

I was so stuck writing this and I know some parts of it are choppy at least. And it's like two weeks late. What did ya think of Rogue? Did they have enough chemistry?

Also, I'm kinda thinkin' of quitting these things (¬_¬")... What say you?

FFR plz if you haven't already! :)

So... 100 hundred reviews! Once again, that may seem small to you guys, but honestly, i'm _**dying.**_

I'm so sorry for the delay. I honestly have no excuse except that I've been super tired and, because I only write on the weekends, my birthday took away a weekend...

So, I've decided all of my chapters will be 3,000 words or more. Not less. Ever.

Mkay, luv you. Byee


	18. Chapter 18

**Third Person POV**

 _3..._ Lucy spotted Rogue 20 feet away from her scanning the room for his dancing partner that left him ever so rudely in the middle of a song. _2..._ She walked towards him at a pace faster than usual. _1..._ She smiled innocently at him.

At that moment, the lights flickered twice before going off, shrouding the crowd completely in pitch black darkness.

Multiple screams and thuds from fainting girls who failed to be caught erupted throughout the room and orders from security echoed around the ballroom. She fell against Rogue "accidentally". His voice hitched for a moment at the contact before wrapping his sturdy arms against her.

"Rogue, what's going on?" She asked, making her voice wobble slightly.

"Shh... It's okay." He put her head on his shoulder and stroked her hair in an attempt to comfort her. He held her in front of him so they faced each other. He placed her at a slightly slanted position, so only the firm hand on her lower back kept her from falling backwards.

He looked at the way the moonlight kissed her face, shadowing some of her features, creating an ethereal effect. He stared at her in awe helplessly and she allowed a slight blush to come through for effect.

"Maybe..." She whispered breaking the ghostly silence with questions of espionage, "Your uncle, Ivan, will know what happened?" He gave a slight tense at the name of his uncle she had presumed he disliked. Afraid he would refuse, she lowered her eyelashes at him and fluttered them slowly. This time his tense held a surprised, longing feeling.

"Anything for you, Lucy." He said noticeably breathy. She almost felt bad for the man's evident weakness. _If only the poor guys were slightly harder to control._

He led her through the murmuring crowd that found themselves trying to huddle together.

Lucy looked around, satisfied with the lack of guards in the ballroom. Looking closer she saw flashes of pink in the streaks moonlight before it disappeared. It seemed to be getting closer to a mysteriously dark corridor. She smiled. "Good luck." She murmured to herself.

Rogue looked over his shoulder at her. "Hmm?"

Lucy smiled at their linked hands. "Oh, nothing."

He laughed quietly. "What ever you say, Luce." She coughed to hide a sound of surprise. It sounded different coming from him. Natsu had always used it with his natural immature side. When Rouge said it, it sounded so serious and slightly mysterious- not that she didn't like it.

In fact, she would have been lying to say she wasn't attracted to it. _Curious,_ she told herself, not really expecting to fool anyone.

* * *

They met Ivan on the other side of the ballroom and Lucy was taken back by the harshness of their voice.

"Uncle Ivan." Rogue said sharply when the large man didn't notice them.

"Rogue."

"What's going on?"

"Everything's fine." Lucy hid behind Rogue looking at how different their exchange was when she wasn't noticed .

"That wasn't what I asked."

"No, but it's all _you_ are getting from _me_."

They glared at each other, until Ivan took notice of the pretty blond woman who watched them with too much interest. At least that's what he thought before her eyes turned scared and slightly arrogant at the mans attention.

"Rogue, you didn't mention you brought a lady along with you." Ivan had the grace to look embarrassed at his outburst.

Rogue, being the gentleman he was raised to be (willingly or not), hurriedly apologized and presented Lucy to his uncle once again. Ivan lifted her hand up placed his lips there for a second longer than usual. She had to gritted her teeth to stop herself from flinching and gave a stiff smile.

He spoke to Rogue without turning from Lucy, "I am sorry, dear nephew, but I really must be going." With that, he turned and left.

"Bastard." She heard Rogue say under his breath, clearly forgetting she was there again. She cleared her throat and he straightened up, turning to her. He apologized about his use of words and she laughed in response.

Confused at her reaction, he studied her laughing features and smiled without realized it. "Come, I'll show you around the mansion."

* * *

They walked around the labyrinth of hallways, somehow having matched black and gray with white and gold. "My uncle... He's not really my uncle, you see." He started abruptly.

She cocked her head to the side. "Is that so?" She inquired.

He nodded, keeping his eyes forward. "My father disappeared when I was young. No relatives wanted me and somehow, Ivan, whom I had never even heard of beforehand, was introduced to me as my father's brother."

With her eyes open wide, she assumed a more nonchalant person. "Yes, and it seems you aren't quite fond of him?" She questioned, attempting to extract as much information as possible.

He quiets up and Lucy, afraid she shut him up with such a bold question, unconsciously speeds up her pace.

She approached the end of the hallway, slightly ahead of her dark-haired companion and, with a small squeak, sees Natsu softly close a door in the middle of a hallway as he exits around the corner. He turns and sees her and freezes. He jogs to her, oblivious of her signs to stop. "I guess..." Rogue starts pondering his words, breaking the silence. "I guess I've always hated him." By now, Natsu had frozen once again. Rogue was rapidly approaching the corner, still immersed by his thoughts.

The hallway was one without any other branches, except for the one Lucy was standing in at the middle and the two on the opposite sides. Natsu had started to sprint to one side, feet as quiet as a mouse, but they both knew he wouldn't cover that half of the hallway in time. Rogue would see him, and being dressed in a SUIT that so clearly placed him as an intruder, his cover would most likely be blown.

So Lucy did the only thing she could think of without harming the mission or the chance of further information.

She lowered her eyelashes an spoke slowly, "Oh, you poor baby." Rogue snapped out of his thoughts at her words, opening his mouth to say something- _anything_ probably.

He didn't get the chance. Lucy cupped his face with her palms, roughly, and smashed her lips against his own, cold ones. For a split second, his eyes popped open with surprise, but they quickly fluttered closed as he joined in the kiss and tipped her backwards- her red dress smushed by the continuous decrease in space.

Lucy opened her eyes slightly to make sure Natsu had used the cover she gave him. She wasn't unsurprised when she saw him staring back at the couple.

Her thoughts were taken off Natsu and onto Rogue as he asked permission to explore further with his tongue, Lucy looked back at Natsu, but he had already disappeared. She opened her mouth ever so slightly. An invitation, hesitant, but an invitation nevertheless. He took it.

Her hands crept higher to the back of his head onto his soft, curly hair. She pushed off the strap of his mask and pulled it off completely. Both their eyes flashed open and he smiled against her lips. Suddenly only one, firm hand held her up as her own mask was stripped off.

Her tongue this time, ventured into his mouth, furthering the kiss. Their lips moved together in harmony. _How is it that every time I kiss him, it's utter perfection?_

Her hands twirled around his long hair, attempting to bring his body even closer to her. Unfortunately, her impatient movement brought them both toppling forward they rolled together, her large dress cushioning their fall.

They rolled to a stop, Rogue laying on top of her. It was silent until Lucy started giggling. It was overly contagious and soon, he rolled off her and was laughing alongside her. After a minute of Lucy being brought to tears, she noticed Rogue had stopped laughing.

She stopped laughing and looked to her left. She found Rogue staring at her and she blushed, her heart speeding up and looked away.

He got up and offered her a hand. She looked up and studied his new features before taking his hand and hoisting herself up. She found a mirror on the hallway wall to her left and used it to wipe off smeared make up and fix her hair.

She laughed, looking at Rogue in the mirror. She turned to him and brought a thumb to his face, wiping off the dark red lipstick spread all over his face.

Content with their appearances, she turned and begun walking again in the away from her partner- forcing him to jog to keep up, a dreamy look plastered on his face.

* * *

They walked in silence, wondering the never-ending halls. His hand had slipped into hers and she didn't pull away- she didn't want to.

After a while, they found a pair of double glass doors, leading to a colorful garden. They stepped outside at her command.

She was delighted to find the moonlight bounce off the flowers, turning everything into a magnificent silver. They walked through the garden, talking about harmless subjects, flirting welcomed.

They continued down the paths, admiring flowers. Once or twice he swooped down to murmur something against her pale neck. Each time, her heart sped up in an embarrassingly unprofessional way.

They made it into a section of the gardens where all the plants were color coordinated. Just then they were passing by purple flowers of every shade. Up ahead, their path was blocked by a dark green hedge.

Lucy gasped. "Is..." She gulped." "Is that what I think it is."

"Hmm?" Rogue inquired. "Oh, the maze? Yeah, it's been under construction for a couple months now. We decided to have it done while we were reconstructing the basements. It saved us from worrying about thieves for more than a couple months. It's almost finished... This Tuesday it might be complete..." He said mostly to himself.

"Oh god. Uhhh, can we do it?" She looked up at his tall gaze with hopeful eyes- a little ashamed by her use of manipulation.

"Of course. Here, follow me." He led her to the entrance of the maze.

She stifled a joyful scream, clenching her fists to refrain her self from actually screaming. Rogue made a coughing sound to cover his laugh. She glared at him and he smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, it's not often I get that reaction at the unfinished maze." She continued to glare at him and he dropped his gaze.

Happy with his submission, she wondered tentatively into the maze.

Once again, he struggled to catch up.

"You know, Luce," She flinched. "Wouldn't you much rather do the maze when it's complete?"

She froze and he passed her confidently. "What? You did't think this would be a one time gig, did ya'?"

He looked over his shoulder before turning around and his long legs striding back to her. He lifted her chin up to him with two fingers. "Lucy, you caught my eyes as soon as I saw you. And I'll be _damned_ if I let you walk away without giving me a chance. And if I somehow happen to screw up this chance, I won't stop fighting for another one. You're different from the other women who like me only for my money. Please tell me you feel it too."

Her eyes had been averted, but she now looked up to him, eyes shining with forming tears. "I wouldn't say the money doesn't have a certain appeal..." She joked. "But yes, I can feel it too."

He didn't give her a chance to say anything else. It was his turn to catch her by surprise, his lips swooping down to her own.

She made a noise of pleasant surprise, before tilting her head higher so he only had to look down. She stood on her tippy toes to reach up to his lips. She nibbled on his lower lip, before sticking her tongue down his throat. Sure, it wasn't the best way to show affection, but she _needed_ this more that she knew.

At the movement, Rogue moaned before fighting her for control. His hands knotted in her perfectly curled hair as her hands his.

A breeze hit her, snapping her back into reality. Well, almost. "We should-" She panted, before his lips embraced hers. She started to join in, but stopped herself. "Finish the-" It was her this time who brought her lips in for another kiss. "Maze." She finished, but it didn't take long for Rogue to start kissing her again.

"Mmhm." He murmured against her neck.

"Rogue!" She whined, laughing at the same time.

"Hmm?" He was going lower.

"Oh my god. Rogue, we're outside for god's sake!" She laughed as his lips slowed down, sadly almost. He looked up at her with beginning eyes. She pushed him off playfully.

He placed his hand over his heart, faking hurt. "Lucy, the things you do to me!"

"Oh, shut up!" She rolled her eyes. "How my hair must look, with you messing it up."

"You started it! Besides, it's irresistibly soft." He stated as if it were a fact.

"Not anymore..." She muttered.

"Whatever, with the way you groan, I know you like it." Her face reddened as she stumbled over words.

Finally, she settled for, "Rogue!"

He was smiling proudly at her... _neck_?!

Lucy gasped, putting two and two together. "Rogue... Did you give me hickeys?!"

"Yup. And pretty good ones, if I do say so myself." He said, still surveying his work.

"Oh, god..." She muttered, picturing Natsu strangling her new companion.

"What? You don't have a boyfriend or anything, do you?" Now it was his turn to be worried.

"No, no. It's just my... dad...?"

"Oh. Oops."

"Oops?! Really? My dad's gonna kill me!"

"You still live with your dad?" He raised his eyebrows.

"No, no. It's just that we have, uh, a breakfast planned tomorrow. If he sees this, I'm dead."

"Well good thing for turtle necks, then!" She glared at him, but he ignored her look of total fury.

Lucy turned on her heel and speed walked away from him. "Hey, Lucy!"

She ignored his pleads and kept walking, secretly worried, because if Natsu found out... Well, only God knows how possessive he is. Then again, he _was_ the one to suggest they get together. Even if they were doing it anyway.

Somehow, she didn't think he would care that he did command her to. He _would_ care about where Rogue lives and how he could kill him without hurting the mission, though.

Finally, she made a wrong turn and Rogue was able to corner her. "Are you really mad?"

She sighed. "No, but I do have to get out of here. My dad expects me bright and early, so I have to get home."

"Oh." he said sadly, but he quickly brightened, pulling a sharpie out of his pocket.

"Why do you-" He grabbed her wrist and inscribed his number onto it. Then he gave her the marker and she wrote his number on the back of his hand.

"Now," He said, capping the Sharpie and putting it away, "Let's get out of here."

* * *

They entered the ballroom again, the lights in working order. As soon as they entered the room, Rogue was pulled away by a small woman with a clipboard and slim, black glasses, stating Ivan needed him. He gave her an apologetic look before getting dragged away by the bossy lady.

Lucy made her way into the bathroom. Using her device, she turned off the cameras, and, having to hop onto the toilet to do so, escaped into the air ducts with her black backpack she left behind.

* * *

Her apartment came into view, and she applied makeup to cover up her hickeys.

After fumbling with her keys, she entered the dark room. Afraid, Natsu was home, she left the lights off. Halfway across the living room to her own bedroom, the bathroom door opened, shedding light on Lucy and brightening the rest of the room.

She hurriedly stepped out of the light. Natsu stood in the middle of the doorway, a white towel slung around his hips. It barely balanced there, and Lucy stared a little too long at the "V" that peeked over the top.

His hair was freshly washed, but stuck out in every direction. Making him look _incredibly_ fucking sexy. She gulped. Not to mention the hard rock abs, droplets of water sliding down them. Oh lord.

"Lucy." He said in a deep, rugged voice. She had a bad feeling about his tone.

Lucy cleared her throat. "Natsu..."

"I-I was worried you know..." Natsu avoided eye contact, but Lucy wouldn't know as she was doing the same. "Those are some dangerous men. All rich and mighty. And... You didn't have to, um, cover for me like that. I could've taken care of it.

"I know." She replied in a small voice.

She heard Natsu's feet as they padded across their wooden floor. His shadow loomed over her. "Luce? Are you okay?" It was innocent enough, but that didn't stop her cringe.

"I- Yeah..."

He tensed, "Lucy, if something is wrong, you have to tell me. I'm your..." He hesitated so slightly, that only someone who knew him could tell. "Partner, and you can trust me. If something happened...?" He put his hand on her shoulder and his thumb brushed her neck.

"You can tell me." He finished.

"I know."

He dropped his hands at her short response.

"Okay. I trust y-" He paused, looking at his thumb. "Lucy... What's this?" She looked at his thumb avoiding his hard gaze.

"Foundation. Why?" Her eyes opened wide at her realization a millisecond later.

"From your neck?" He glared at her.

"No, I-" His thumb wiped off the foundation on her neck. Showing a red hickey. He rubbed the rest of giving way to multiple red splotches along her neck.

Natsu froze. His voice icy with rage, he snarled, baring his sharp canines. "What the hell is this?"

 **Author's Note**

One week late. I apologize. I was busy with finals. I really do hope you guys like this chapter. LOTS OF ROLU I know.

Anyways, please FFR.

I love you guys and everyone of you are awesome. I know only writers will actually believe me, though. After all, I used to feel the same way.

Minor cliffhanger, but I know some of you like it ;)

Happy holidays btw

P.S: Someone tell me why I can't stop fucking grinning when I'm reading your guys' reviews? Honest to god, I got all giddy inside.


	19. Chapter 19

_**Hey, guys. I need someone to make me a new summary of this including Rogue. I could do it myself, but I want what would work best. PM it to me if you have any ideas. Enjoy! Also, I wanted to stress that this is rated T for Teens so it might be a little... intense at times.**_

" _Natsu froze. His voice icy with rage, he snarled, baring his sharp canines. 'What the hell is this?'"_

 **Third Person POV**

In that moment, Natsu's onyx eyes held a wild fire. An intense, burning fire.

It took all Lucy had- and some- not to flinch. As much as she wanted to shrink away, to hide herself from his fiery stare, she held her chin up in defiance, showing the red marks splattered across her neck "fearlessly".

She swallowed the dread caught in her throat. "What the hell does it look like?"

His harsh voice gave way to a bitter laugh, "I see your sass is still intact."

This time, she couldn't hide her wince at the sound of his voice. "I'm a big girl. I can make my own choices."

"Yeah, and we both know where that got you last time," he sniped back.

Her jaw clenched and her hands balled up into fists so tight that it turned her knuckles white. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"Exactly what it sounds like!" He shot back. "You have absolutely _no_ self control! You crave the attention -the affection- like you're a damned teenager! We are on a mission, yet you go running around like this is some ridiculous spy game!" He spat out the last words. "I know you're a rookie, but you have to remember- people have lost their god-damned _lives_ out here. People way more experienced than _you_." He finally broke his gaze with Lucy, unable to stand watching hurt gather more and more in her eyes. "You say you can make your own choices, but the truth is, you get too carried away when ever it comes to anything remotely connected to fun- or if it has to do with self-control."

Lucy's mouth was hung open, a hand covering it in shock. She hadn't even thought she did anything wrong. In fact, she saved Natsu from exposure and the mission while acting "rashly."

"Did you learn _anything_ about the Big Bang or Ivan? At all?"

"Yeah, Ivan isn't his uncle- not really. He has no other living relatives... And the basement is under construction until Tuesday. We could probably sneak in and get a look around down there."

"Is that all?" He asked, mocking her.

"Well, yeah, but-"

He pointed to several files spread out on the coffee table. "I knew all that and _way_ more from those files. If you can't get out your share of information and access from Rogue, I'm pulling you out."

 _He can't do that._ She thought, but she knew as well as he did that it wasn't true.

Anger started to mix in with her shock and fear.

 _This is about Rogue,_ she realized.

Who the hell did he think he was? He hooked up with girls all the time- even back at the agency or during missions. Besides, there was never a time when he wasn't acting rashly.

"If this is about Rogue, know that he's different. I like him and _not_ just because of the mission. I know that's not exactly what we're supposed to be doing, but it's a win-win. I can get information out of him. I can get access."

She opened her mouth to say more, but he beat her to it. "People will try to take advantage of you all throughout your career... Sometimes, I'm afraid your emotions will let them- and when they do," His head slowly rose as he brought his eyes back to hers, the fire in his gaze growing before her. "You wont be strong enough to stop them."

She stood still, her eyes flicking away from his scorching glaze. Instead, she kept her gaze on his bare chest, without really looking. She felt tears rising up as her breathing came faster and faster in small rushes of air. The realization was too much for her to take- mostly because he was right. She longed for the attention Natsu wouldn't give her, her parents couldn't give her, and Rogue shouldn't give her.

She made Rogue, along with other men, fall for her, using her feminine charm she was told she had. Sure, they might have anyways, but Lucy batted her eyelashes and used her rack to her advantage more times than she could think.

She didn't even need them to go to bed with her- no, just the fact that they would at her command was enough. After that- after she was sure- she forgot about them. They were nothing to her after that.

 _No, not Rogue. Rogue is different._

But she _wasn't_ a slut. She didn't just give out sex to anyone who came by. She just _needed_ the attention so badly.

 _The worst part,_ she thought, _is that I didn't even know that I needed it so fucking badly- or at all._

She was snapped out of the insecure part of her mind, when Natsu stepped into the bathroom with a slam of a door.

Seconds later, he emerged, the towel gone and replace by a pair of gray sweatpants. His long legs cleared the living room and kitchen in a couple of steps. He stopped by the door, throwing his black leather jacket over is bare skin.

"I- Where are you going?" Lucy managed to sputter out in more of a whisper or croak than anything else.

"On a walk."

"Oh-" Her soft words were gone with the slam of the door.

She trudged into her bathroom and into the shower with apathy. Afterwards, she checked to see if Natsu had gotten back, but he was nowhere in sight.

She sighed, but wasn't surprised. She threw on her fuzziest robe and cuddled under her white comforter. It was only then that she let the tears flow and the violent sobs take her away.

The sun was bright despite the autumn wind that repeatedly hit the window. Lucy yawned and rubbed her eyes, red and puffy from crying all night.

She washed her face over and over again before dressing herself in comfortable, stretchy clothing.

She approached the wooden door with hesitation, hearing the soft sound of a keyboard at work. Lucy took a deep breath before opening the heavy door.

Natsu didn't even look up at the sound of her door opening. He sat at the table, drinking what smelt like coffee and typing on his laptop. He wore light gray sweatpants that hung loosely on his hips as well as his ever-present leather jacket.

She cleared her throat, but he ignored her. Instead, he continued to type, pausing every now and then but never looking up from the screen.

Finally, with another deep breath, she gathered up enough courage to speak up first. "So teach me."

He looked up at that, his face giving nothing away. "Excuse me?"

She pushed down the flush crawling up her neck and cleared her throat. "Last night you said I wouldn't be strong enough to stop whoever 'they' are, and it's true. I don't want to be weak anymore. I don't want to be the damsel in distress. I've seen you fight. And I need you to teach me how."

He looked back at his laptop and typed some more. Without stopping, he spoke up, "You've had the same training I've had. You completed your 12-month training program with The She-Devil- one of the best of the best."

 _That's not true,_ she thought. _None of it._

Her hands curled into fists again as she glared at his monotone voice. It was silent except for the soft clicking of the keyboard.

 _Clickity-click-clack_

 _*sigh*_

 _Click-ClAck-CLick_

 _*sigh*_

 _CLICK-CLICK-CLACK_

 _*sigh*_

By this time, Natsu was slamming his hands down on the keyboard with each fluid motion as Lucy continued to glare at him and sigh continuously.

"Fine!" Natsu slammed his hands on the table and stood up so fast that his chair flew behind him. "Okay." He said, softer this time. Taking a deep breath, he stared at his long, slender fingers on the table. "First order of business, type up your reports for FTSA. Then-"

"We train?" Lucy blurted, voice brimming with anticipation. She walked up next to Natsu in order to hear his low voice.

"No." Natsu seemed to growl. "We determine our route. We need a plan- a good one. Our main objective is to find out as many members of the Big Bang as possible and expose them. We need to get them to trust us. Afterwards, we-"

"Can finally train?" Lucy asked hopefully, stepping closer to Natsu to hear his increasingly low voice.

"No." He paused. "Then we write our report to the BB." (A.K.A- Big Bang) "After that, depending on our course of action, we either start the bomb, or-" Natsu brought his body close to Lucy in a single fluid motion- as if he floated to her. He gave her his sly, teasing smile that she was so used to, raising one tan, slender finger up to her lips-silencing her words. She sucked in a breath at the feel of his bare chest so close to hers.

"We train." He finished, nodding his head. After a moment, he noticed the intimacy in his action and stepped back, allowing his hand to drop lamely down to his side.

Lucy exhaled, unbearably aware of him. She felt his warm breath on her still, even as he stepped back. She noticed more about him, too. Like the way he stood, alert and ready for everything. Or the way his hair stood up in every direction- reflecting his wild personality.

Natsu turned on his heel and picked up his fallen chair. As if nothing had happened, he begun typing again.

Lucy swallowed, her eyes open wide. "Okay," she squeaked. Lucy trudged into her own room and picked up her laptop. Her fingers flew across her keyboard. After 5 minutes, she was done with a formal, two page report.

Seconds after she sent it, she heard Natsu talk to himself, "Done! Took me an hour, but done," he said, mumbling the last part.

She smirked at his miserable self.

Lucy left her room, "Okay, Natsu! Let's put our heads together and plan the hell out of this mission.

He looked up at her, raising an eyebrow at her joke, but not acknowledging it. "I told you to write your report."

"I know. I did." She replied innocently, adopting a blank face.

He rolled his eyes. "Lucy you can't write a report in five minutes."

Unable to raise an eyebrow, she smirked. "Really?" Lucy drawled.

Lucy left and returned seconds later with her laptop and opened report.

He read over it. "...Whatever. Let's figure this out."

She scoffed. "Whatever? It was great." Lucy mumbled under her breath, following Natsu to the living room.

Natsu was sprawled over the couch, surfing lazily through his files. His partner stood off to his left, arms crossed.

Sensing something wrong, he lifted his chin up and looked at her upside-down. "What?"

She cocked her head to the side, gesturing to the lack of spaces to sit. Natsu glanced at his feet on the other side of the couch and lifted his legs, flashing her a teasing grin.

Lucy sighed, knowing fully that it was the best deal she could get, and stalked over to the now empty spot on the couch. As soon as she sat, Natsu's feet fell across her lap. She sighed again.

"Okay, what's the plan?"

He grinned, "That's what we came to discuss, remember? Silly Luce."

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that."

He winked in return and turned back to the papers spread across the coffee table. "Okay, so, we need a bomb that will destroy all of Magnolia. Given the size, we need a bomb that will cover a 400-500 square mile ground cover. I was thinking maybe a B-83. That'll take us approximately 5 months to complete, so if we get started no-"

"Okay, but we don't have 5 months."

Natsu leaned over on his side and pulled out complex blueprints of a missile. "I know, I was getting there. During our first conference with the Big Bang group, I forgot that we wouldn't have access to all of Fairy Tail's money and weapons. Which means, we probably have to set up another meeting with the BB..."

Lucy sighed and stared at the mid-afternoon sun.

 _Odd for fall._

It seemed so familiar; it took her a second to remember why. Her eyes opened wide, desperately trying to push away the memories, but it was too late.

Darkness slammed into her. She heard a faded, "Luce?" before slipping away completely.

* * *

 _._

 _It was an abnormally sunny day for mid fall. A young teenager, 15 at least, was covered in soot as well as barely visible scars._

Ugly, _she had thought,_ Hideous. No one will ever see these- I'll cover up my signs of weakness for the rest of my life. I'll be strong.

 _The scrawny girl with sun-bleached hair was running down an empty alleyway. At the end, crowds of people were passing by, stopping at stands and carts along the way. No one noticed her standing there, in the shadows, so starved that ribs showed too visibly and a hollow face burned with longing._

 _No one noticed even as she slipped into the crowd, hiding the shaking of her hands._

 _Overhead, birds sung and a small breeze kept away most of the heat. The sun shone among the crowd, but it seemed to be directed at her, urging her on._

 _Even then,_ especially _then, it seemed wrong. It wasn't gray and dull like it was in the movies, when someone escaped from her tormenters. It wasn't sad and horrible like she expected it to be._

 _No, life went on. No one stopped to stare at her. No one cared that it was the biggest, most important day of her life._

 _Everything was completely and utterly_ normal.

 _Lucy watched as the young girl walked too fast among the crowd, swiping food from tables along the way and money from pockets, bewildered that nobody noticed her. Part of her was thankful that no one spoke to her and drew attention to the barefoot teenager._

 _The other part of her was mildly heartbroken that no one bothered to help her, to feed the poor girl on the street._

 _Well, she was wrong about one thing._

 _On the edges of the plaza, stood an old, white-haired man, standing just over 3 feet, watching the young pickpocket with amusement. Slowly, he began to make his way towards her. As he passed her, he felt her eyes on him, she didn't try anything on him- good thing she didn't, or else he would have been disappointed._

 _A little bit later, he walked back the way he came from, this time, the small girl causally got up from where he leaned on the wall and walked his direction, this time she brushed past him, but he timed it perfectly._

 _One moment, they were walking past each other in the crowd, the next, they stood in an alley behind a jewelry stand._

 _One hand was on her mouth and the other holding her wrist, which held a leather wallet. He stared into her fear-struck eyes that were opened wide._

" _Now, I'm going to take my hand off your mouth, and you will not scream... or else." Her eyes opened wider (if possible), but she nodded. When he took his hand off her mouth, she didn't speak._

" _Are you an orphan?" He asked in a low voice._

 _She nodded._

" _Are you a runaway?"_

 _She nodded slowly, "But-!"_

" _I'm not gonna turn you in."_

 _She was still tense, but visibly relaxed. "Okay."_

" _Answer honestly: do you have a plan?"_

" _No, sir."_

" _Call me Gramps." He smiled. An honest, friendly, true smile. Then he took the wallet out of her hand and handed her a business card, complete with a name and number. "When you have no other choices and are ready to give up your life to this 'career', dial this number. I will help you. It may seem weird, but that is why I give you this warning. Once you choose to go, if you do, you can't go back."_

 _Gramps turned and walked away, raising his thumb and index finger in the air, forming a "1"._

" _Wait!" she called out._

 _The small man paused and looked over his shoulder._

 _She swallowed, "I don't have any other choices."_

" _You can't go back." He warned._

 _She lifted her chin, "I have nothing to go back to."_

 _He smiled, "What's your name?"_

" _Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia."_

" _Welcome to Fairy Tail, Lucy."_

* * *

 _._

"Lucy. Lucy? Hey, wake up."

The blackness came and went, leaving her with an cold towel on her head, blankets covering her from her toes to her chin, and Natsu Dragneel's dark eyes (and extremely long eyelashes that she never noticed before) centimeters away from her face.

"Wha-what happened?" She proceeded to sit up, but Natsu pushed her back down.

"Me, what happened?! You what happened?"

"I- what? Do you mean 'What happened to you'?"

He glared at her and she glared right back, pushing herself into a siting position despite his protests.

"So...?"

"I, um... Sleep deprivation."

He stared at her. "You serious?"

"Yup."

"You're gonna lie to me like that?"

"I'm not-"

"Cut the crap."

"Consider the crap cut," she said in her most, honest-to-god voice. "Sleep deprivation."

"Liar."

"Man whore."

"Attention seeker."

"Flame eater."

Natsu's eyes stared at her. "It happened once!" He paused. "Disguises Destroyer!" (AN- chapter 12)

She gasped in fear. "YOU SAID YOU DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS ME!"

"I LIED! In fact..."

"No, no, no. NATSU, PLEASE DON'T DO THIS!"

Natsu ran to his suitcase and pulled out a CD. With more speed than she thought he could muster, he played the video on their flatscreen.

All hope was gone when Lucy clearly saw her face; there was no doubt it was her. She watched in horror as Natsu lay on the floor holding his stomach and laughing his ass off.

The video of Lucy was showing her crying and screaming and, frankly, looking like a fucked up clown.

She turned her murderous eyes onto the man on the floor, laughing so hard, he had tears.

"YOU ASSHOLE!"

And with that, Lucy brought the heel of her foot so hard down onto his balls that he started to cry for real.

* * *

.

"NATSU, NOOOOOO!"

"GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Natsu backflipped off the coffee table and cartwheeled into the kitchen, exactly where Lucy stood a millisecond ago.

Gasping for breath, she unlocked the front door and ran out into the expensive hallways barefoot, slamming the door behind her. A second later, she heard a satisfying, 'THUD', against the door as Natsu ran into it, followed by a string of heavy cursing.

She flew down the hallway, but Natsu's footsteps could already be heard despite his minor delay.

Knowing he could outrun her any day of the week, she jumped and kicked off the wall, pushing her upward.

In that moment, Natsu had chose to tackle her- leaving him laying on the floor with arms full of empty air.

Lucy didn't hesitate to spin in the air, land in a roll, and bolt up, sprinting in the direction she just came from.

As she approached the end of the hallway, she reached a heavy, metal door and threw it open, climbing up the stairwell two steps at a time. The door had just clicked shut when it was thrown open again by none other than the terrifying Salamander.

"LUCYYY," he drawled. "I'M COMING..."

She couldn't contain her delighted screech as excitement filled every pore in her body.

He had a way of doing that.

Finally, legs burning, Lucy pushed open the door to the rooftop; sun finally fading and giving way to the Autumn hours.

Then, she sucked in her breath because the rooftop was- well, beautiful.

Of course, not everyone would appreciate it the way Lucy did.

The entire rooftop was- for the most part- covered in blue sparring mats. Above the roof, were sturdy wooden rafters, held by a strong post in every corner. Between the spaces between each wooden bar, Lucy stared up at the pink-tinted sky. Hanging from the rafters were multiple punching bags on one side of the roof. On another side, was a large metal chest.

She walked across the mats and kneeled at the long chest. She was studying the side of the chest when a warm body plopped down lightly beside her.

He grabbed her hand and gently led it to a small panel on the side of the chest. He lifted the panel, revealing a thumb scanner.

She flicked her eyes toward him and smiled, placing her thumb on the scanner. A second later, it beeped.

Natsu's eyes flashed with excitement and Lucy's with anticipation. He lifted the lid of the heavy container and showed her the hundreds upon hundreds of... inches of empty space.

"Uh, Natsu...?"

"Shhh. Just wait," Natsu cleared his throat. "Cloaking deactivation. J707X7."

Right before their eyes, the box became filled with weapons and black, rolled up bags. Smiling Natsu selected one from its carefully designated place and carefully unraveled it. It held throwing knives of every size, razor sharp as expected.

"How-?" Lucy asked in wonder as the rest of the mirage slipped away.

"FTSA made." Was all he said as he studied the blades. She looked at him then back at the chest asking a silent question.

"Go ahead." He replied, still staring at each of his blades, then as she begun to stand, he spun with speed that couldn't be taught and threw the knife across the mats. The knife flew straight into the wooden post across from them, making a satisfying, "THUNK" sound.

Lucy's mouth dropped open. Sometimes, with all the frustration and teasing grins he gives her, she forgets that he is, in fact, the legendary Natsu Dragneel, feared by anyone who isn't crazy because of his fabled "Dragon Force". A move in which is meant for death and destruction.

It's said to be only used three times by him, and when he uses it, not even the mighty Titania can defend against it. In short, it scared Lucy shitless.

Natsu chuckled, "Sorry, I'm a bit rusty..."

"What?" Lucy squeaked, but he already forgot about her.

"Look!' He exclaimed, pointing into the distance.

"What?" Lucy automatically got up, suspicious and on edge.

She walked the opposite direction as the chest, past Natsu, in an attempt to get a better look at the problem.

Suddenly, her hand was yanked on, pulling down the rest of her body... right into Natsu- his lap, specifically.

"The sun set, silly," he whispered into her ear. "You can't attack the sun."

"Says who?" She grumbled back, squirming out of his hug.

He drew his arms around her, his touch burning her skin. Somehow, it made her excited.

Because, she felt his hard chest against her back and his strong arms shielded her from the cold she didn't know she had.

But in no way was it comfortable; relaxing. No, it was new, different. Dangerous. Her heart beat faster and faster. Everywhere his skin connected with hers burned- so hot it gave her chills.

And she pretty sure that wasn't how it worked.

Yet, her body was filled with anticipation. Of what, she didn't know- or that's what she told herself, anyway.

Their shared silence was interrupted by the unmistakable ringing of a phone- much to Lucy's relief.

She strained to get her phone from her pocket, but Natsu's arms failed to loosen around her.

"I gotta take this, Natsu..."

"I know."

…

"-Natsu-"

He sighed, releasing her and leaning back. She immediately stood and walked a couple of feet away from her partner.

"Hello?"

" _Lucy?"_

"Rogue?" She asked, pleasantly surprised. She didn't see Natsu stiffen behind her.

" _Yeah... Hey, do you have any plans for tonight?"_

"...No, why?"

" _Um, you wanna go to dinner tonight?"_

"I thought you'd never ask. Much less call. It's, like, five, by the way."

" _Yeah, sorry about that. I was busy with last nights fiasco...Anyway, I can pick you up at 7?"_

"Mm-hmm. I'll text you my address. Okay, bye."

She pocketed her cellphone and turned back to Natsu. "I have this dinner at-"

"Seven. Yeah, I heard."

"Oh..."

He sighed again and stood, walking across the vast area of mats and pulled out his knife from its place embedded in the wood.

Afterwards, he placed the weapons back into it rightful position. "Cloaking reactivation. X767."

Lucy looked at him and attempted to raise her eyebrow. "My birth-year?"

He raised an eyebrow and gave her another one of his teasing smiles. She rolled her eyes at the perfected movement. Natsu smirked and winked at her.

She never noticed how much that familiar, yet incredibly fucking sexy wink meant to her. How could she live without the thrilling shivers that ran down her back every time he looked at her? Oh wait, she couldn't.

He signed again, the smirk intensifying, "Well, we should probably get you ready."

"We?"

He winked again.

Oh, Mavis. Oh, dear Mavis, she was trouble.

* * *

.

"Okay, Natsu, ready? I'm coming out."

She left the bathroom, to where he was sitting on her bed, in the long black dress that he picked out for her.

"Whatddya thin- NATSU, NOOO! KYAA!" And with that she Lucy Kicked the boy off her bed, snatching up the fallen papers of her novel.

"But, Luccee," he whined. "I wanna know what happens next! I didn't know you wrote another chapter!"

"You bastard! How long have you known about this?!"

"Uhh..."

"Natsu." She growled at him.

He stood on the other side of the bed, staring at the floor and shuffling his feet. "sincewewereontheairplane..."

"What did you just say?" Her voice was low and dangerous, knowing exactly what he just said.

"I'm sorry, Luce..." He then proceeded to somehow look up at her ,even being inches taller, with stupid, fucking adorable, puppy dog eyes.

She sighed. "Natsu, you are never, _ever,_ going to read this without my permission again. Or else... I _will_ rip of your microscopic dick and shove it down your throat. Do you understand?"

He gulped, "Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Now..."

"Please don't hurt me-!"

She looked at him quizzically, "-What do you think of the dress?"

It was a long, silky black dress that dragged across the ground as she walked.

"Hmm, I like it. Put it in the 'maybe' pile for now."

"'Mkay. Here Natsu, unzip me." She turned and lifted her hair up away from the zipper in the back. She heard the faint squeak of the bed as he crawled across.

Finally, he stood over her as his slender fingers found the zipper. He pulled it down slowly, his finger brushing her back every couple notches. He stopped at her lower back, his hand still on the zipper. Clearing his throat first, he whispered, "Done."

"Okay." She whispered back. "Next dress?"

"Here." He handed her a fiery red dress.

Then, ever so foolishly, she paused with the red dress in her hands, her back towards Natsu, and let the black dress slide off her skin and onto the floor. Her black lace bra and underwear was all that was left.

She heard him gulp and his breath hitch. He took a step towards her, but she stepped away, to the bathroom. "Put that in the pile for me."

Then, before she could make another mistake, she stepped into the bathroom and shut the door, leaning against it to prevent her from falling.

 _What the hell am I thinking?_

He only saw her ass, but then again, she _had_ an ass.

She manged to calm herself down (just barely) and studied the dress, before slipping it on. It was barely more than a piece of silk.

It was fairly simple, a half sleeve, off the shoulder type dress. It reached down only to her mid-thigh. The one sleeve was flame, covered lace, just like the ending inches on the bottom of her dress, seemingly a preview of what more was to come.

Lucy tok a deep breath and opened the door. Natsu sat on the edge of her bed once again, looking perfectly normal. Well, until he saw her, that his.

For the second time, his breath caught. He studied her from head to toe, ever so slowly. Then, he looked angry, possessive, even. "No. Not that one. Take it off."

She frowned, after all he did buy it for her. "What? You don't like it?"

"No, no. It's not that. I love it."

"So, what is it then."

"Too many people will look at you in that."

She glared, "I think we already established that I actually like that."

"Just save it. You'll wear it on a more... special occasion. Wear the black one for today. And... this. He pulled out a metal bracelet, a silver dragon that curled around her wrist. "Press head and say my name if you need me."

It was oddly touching She beamed at him, forgetting all of her previous anger. "Okay, here. She threw a gold bracelet at him, after telling him how to change the volts and it's code name.

But, her hand slipped as she threw it.

His hand flew up and he caught her terrible, terrible throw, centimeters away from his face.

"Wow, you're good with your hands." She said, wide-eyed.

"Yeah? I could do a lot more with them, too. Along with... other parts of my body." He smirked.

Lucy groaned, "Is sex _all_ you think about?"

"Only when your around."

"Can't we talk about a single subject without you bring sex up?"

I don't know," he shrugged honestly. "Try me."

"Okay... What do you like to do in your free time?

He winked, that sexy, smooth, breath-taking wink. "I'm lookin' at her."

"Fuck, that was smooth."

He grinned back at her. "That was smooth? Wait till you see what I can do in bed."

She laughed. "You fucking man-whore!"

"Don't call me that," He said, suddenly serious.

"Ohh...kay?" She responded, surprised by his abrupt change in tone.

…

"I better leave. Clean up my stuff before he gets here. We can't have him knowing I live here. Then I'll go out for the night. I'll be home when you get there, though."

"Ok."

He opened his mouth to say more, but apparently thought better and left the room. An hour later, Lucy left the room, makeup done and eyebrows on fleek. She looked around and was surprised at how nice Natsu cleaned up.

It seemed as if she were the only one living here. He was already gone, along with his leather jacket.

Minutes later, the doorbell rang to reveal a nicely dressed Rogue.

"Shall we?" He offered her an elbow.

"We sure as hell shall." He smiled as she took his elbow.

"You look great." He whispered.

"I know." She replied, thinking of Natsu, but Rogue's rich laughter brought her back.

And with that, they left the apartment without a second thought.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Longest chapter at 16 pages :)

I was gonna write more, but I decided you guys needed an update.

Um, ily. Hope you enjoyed. Don't forget to FFR!

Lots of Nalu.

 **You might wanna read this** : updates will probably come as late as this one, because I decided on a new writing strategy. Sorry, but the chapters will usually always be longer than before.

Okay, thanks for reading!

Give me your opinion and thoughts pls thanks!


	20. Chapter 20

**Lucy's POV**

He led me to a two-person table in the corner of the dark room. The dark red fabric of the tablecloth and curtains collaborated with the dim room to create a mysteriously-romantic setting. On the walls, shadows of flames danced, giving the room an eerie feeling.

Like the gentleman he is, he pulled out my chair and pushed me back in afterwards. His fingers, soft and smooth, brushed against the small of my back before he sat opposite me. For some reason, the contact felt nice and familiar. The touch somehow calmed downed the rest of my nerves.

Unlike Natsu's touch would do. His touch would... I involuntarily shivered thinking about it- probably cause it grossed me out so much. His perfectly toned abs are probably fake anyway...

Wait, why the hell am I thinking of Natsu? _Hush, child..._ I chastise myself.

Rogue sits directly in front of me, sending me flirtatious glances from above his standing menu- ones that I easily return. His face reddens and looks down. I bite my lip to stop from laughing out loud and instead let a sigh escape.

Really, he was much too easy.

My eyes flick back to my menu. Then back to Rogue. Ordering food is way too boring. I smile up at him and fold my menu, placing it neatly on the table. "So, how did you find this place? It's nice, I like it."

"Oh, um," he grinned at me nervously. "My uncle owns it."

I raise my eyebrows, not being able to raise only one. "Ivan?"

"Yeah... I don't really like to use much of his businesses, but I made an exception, because, well it's rumored to have the best sushi in town, not to mention the five-star rating."

I rest my chin on folded hands looking up at him through my long lashes (courtesy of _very_ expensive mascara). "A little extensive for a first date, don't you think?" I say, teasing him.

His face reddened as he stumbled over words, finally settling on: "Well, um, only the best for you." Along with an embarrassed grin. A good line if only he said it with more confidence.

His eyes looked everywhere, but mine, yet another sign of his nervousness. Finally, I managed to catch his eyes eyes and once I did, I didn't let go.

This time, he stared into my eyes as I spoke. I spoke of random nothingness, mostly about Ivan and their infinite mansion- trying in vain to get information- and keep my thoughts away from Natsu.

A couple minutes later, a waiter came by with an unsettlingly familiar voice. Speak of the devil.

"Are you ready to order?" Natsu asked, eyes boring into me while completely ignoring Rogue.

His outfit consisted of a black tuxedo and an out of place, **"** **HELLO, MY NAME** **IS"** name tag stuck onto the top left corner of his chest. Under it, "Natsu" was scribbled illegibly in orange marker. To top it all of, is his ever-present leather jacket. To my surprise, it doesn't look weird. It would look weird on anyone _but_ Natsu. It seemed so natural on him, that it completed the look.

I nearly chocked on the ice in my mouth, coughing embarrassingly for a couple years while Rogue stared at me with concern. "Uh, yes. I believe _we_ are ready." I told him pointedly, gesturing to Rogue with my eyes.

"Oh!" he exclaimed with mock worry, "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there! You kinda blend into the shadows. What's up with the goth look?"

I gasped, "Waiters don't say that, Natsu!"

I looked over to Rogue screaming at him with my eyes to deal with this.

"Wait, you know him?" He asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Oops.

I glared at him. Now wasn't the time to deal with this! Or ever, actually.

After a moment, his eyes bugged out with recognition "Oh! Er, it's okay, I guess." He said awkwardly. I roll my eyes at him. _Boys._

"Yes, we're ready. And he's not goth." I pause. "At least I don't think he is."

"Oi! I ain't goth!" He blurted. Then apparently realizing how un-gentleman-like his outburst was, he blushed and, quite frankly, melted into the shadows.

I sighed- _again._ I guess I have to clean up this mess of a conversation.

"Any recommendations?" I ask Natsu, glaring.

"Yup!" He replies, ignoring my look of total fury. "The Fire-Dragon roll is pretty good!"

"They have that? I don't see it on the menu..."

"Oh, it's not on the menu. I make it myself." He grinned proudly.

Knowing about his level of cooking skill, I cringed slightly in disgust. "Any other recommendations?" I asked hopefully.

"Nope!" He replied happily, plucking the menu from my hands.

"Oh... I guess I'll get that then." I told him in both surrender and regret.

What upcoming doom will I face next?

He took Rogue's order with clear apathy and boredom, before leaving, turning back to me a final time and winking.

"That was... odd." Rogue said after he left, finally emerging from the shadows.

I turned my glare onto him, "You don't say."

* * *

"So, what do you do for a living?" I ask prodding him.

"I work for my uncle," he told me proudly. I gave him a look to make him feel otherwise.

"Oh, do you now?"

"Yes?" he answered, more uncertainly this time.

"That's nice. What exactly does he do anyway?" I asked him.

"Oh, you know... tech and stuff..."

I feel the flirt in me leave my eyes as I stare at him, all business now. "Tell me," I order him.

"I'm just a delivery boy," he blurts.

"And?"

He looks compelled to answer me, probably a result of the half empty drink in front of him that Natsu brought over a couple minutes ago. Most likely laced with a form of truth serum. I tell myself that I'll thank Natsu after this is over.

"I give important people important notes- sometimes small packages. In the next couple of weeks, they enter Ivan's office. I never see them leave."

My recording device beeps letting me know it heard that. "Any idea why they come?"

"I think I deliver meeting times and dates. Maybe they leave through a different exit."

"As for the small packages?"

He looks up at me, his eyes blank, "Tech. The newest tech. Not stuff sold in stores either. Dunno what it's for. My uncle doesn't tell me. He says to keep quiet. He makes me angry."

"How do you know this?" I prod, feeling bad for my date, but I know if I don't do this, Natsu will be me out. I have to do this, I tell myself. For Rogue at least.

He looks up at me proudly, " _I_ opened one of the boxes."

But this time, he stuttered, a result of the small amount of truth serum wearing off. I hide the recorder, but leave it on. "Do you know who Natsu is?"

He looks momentarily confused, "He's our waiter... He looks familiar though."

Okay, that's not that bad.

"Do you know who I am?"

He smiles up at me, some color entering his eyes, "You're Lucy! My uncle told me to keep an eye on you..." He frowns. And so do I. Is this all an act? "But I don't want to! I love you! You're the best thing that has ever happened to me!"

I smile, "I love you too..." I whisper, showing him affection through my eyes. He won't remember any of this anyway. But I wish he did.

"Okay. A couple more questions. Is anyone watching us?" I ask with a smile.

"Yes. Cameras and people. They are here now. They can't hear, though. You're talking too quiet." He gave me a goofy smile.

"Last question." I say hurriedly and quieter even then. "What are the names of the people who you deliver packages to and the names of the people watching me."

"I don't know many..."

"Tell me as much as you remember." I say, quickly, but soothingly as well. The serum is wearing off.

He starts naming people as Natsu comes into view. I nod to him and he takes Rogue's drink replacing it smoothly with an identical one. I barely notice the exchange as he walks past us, a different drink in hand now.

I give Rogue my last instruction. "Keep naming people while I talk to myself. Just ignore me."

He nods, without stopping. As I start up another conversation. All he'll remember are the constants. Me. He'll remember me talking and nodding and smiling, but he wont remember what I nor he said.

"Tech, huh? That must be interesting. I myself am in between jobs. I don't really have to work, 'cause my family's rich and stuff, but I like to keep busy, ya know?"

Rogue pauses from his ramble and looks momentarily confused. "Yeah I get it." He says with a smile, the light in his eyes evident once more.

I smile, turning off the tape recorder and putting it away. I sip my wine casually. "Ahh, looks like our food's here," I say, a waiter finally arriving. I'm not surprised to see it be not Natsu.

The waiter places Rogues food down then looks at me sheepishly before placing down a roll of sushi that was completely and utterly burnt. "I was told that it's supposed to look like this."

I purse my lips, looking down at the destroyed roll. "Ah, I see." It was shaped artistically like a dragon. A really, really burnt dragon. "You can leave it here Niiko."

As soon as he leaves, Rogue speaks, "We can order a different one. And get a refund."

I start laughing out of nowhere. I knew Natsu couldn't cook, but how do you burn sushi? It's mostly all raw fish! I bite my lip to stop more laughter from escaping.

Finally, I'm able to compose myself, wiping away tears and straightening. "No, it's fine. I _will_ get another glass of wine, though."

We finished dinner and a moist chocolate cake for dessert. He offered me an elbow, which I took, and began walking out of the building. I lean into him as we walk, by regal black dress flowing behind me.

"Where should we go next?" he asks, breaking the comfortable silence.

He opens the door for me and I walk down the steps, the brisk air hitting my fair skin. He walks beside me, awaiting my answer. "I didn't realize we were going anywhere else."

"The night doesn't end right after dinner, you know. I know of a few parties we could go to."

And I wanted to go. I really did. My body was itching to dance and drink and have fun. But every time I thought I was going to say yes, my thoughts drifted to Natsu and his words. He still thinks I'm a child. An irresponsible, young child, even though I'm only a couple years younger than him.

I see it every time the disappointed look in his eyes take over.

Sometimes, I go back to that fateful day when Master took me in. Sometimes I wonder if I had made a mistake all those years ago.

But then I think of all the adventurous I had. All the happiness that would flow through me whenever Mira or Elfman (my trainers) would tell me I did a move right or whenever they told me they were proud.

No, Fairy Tail _is_ my family. It's tough love, but with them, I wouldn't ask for anything different.

I sighed, "I want to," I told him honestly. "But I can't."

"Why?" He pouted.

I looked at his lips, sticking slightly out, and reached up my hand to cup his cheek. Then, standing on my tiptoes, I raised myself up and kissed him passionately right outside the restaurant. Instantly, I felt a sense of stability and familiarity like I did whenever I touched him. He drew his arms around my back and smiled.

Suddenly, a sleek, red sports car served into the street, slowing in front of us. Detaching from Rogue's embrace, I grinned at the boldness of the car, knowing exactly who was behind the wheel. "'Cause my ride's here," I told him, slightly breathless.

She slowed to almost a stop, but not quite, as I swung open the door and jumped in. Before my door was even closed, the car sped away, leaving skid marks on the rich estate.

"Hi, Natsu."

"Hey."

Looking outside, I saw Rogue in the review mirror, mouth agape, and grinned.

Then, somehow, my stomach rumbled so load it was heard over the roar of the engine.

Natsu raised an eyebrow, "Hungry?"

I glared at him. "Noo." I said with apathy. "I'm full on the burnt food you served." I folded my arms and looked away, but I could've swore there was a hint of a smile on his face.

"Close your eyes." He told me.

* * *

A little while later, he led me out of the car and into a restaurant. "Okay. Open." He said finally.

I did and looked around in awe. Was he kidding?

"Can I take your order?" the McDonald's cashier asked me.

15 minutes later, we were sitting across from each other stuffing our face and completely overdressed. There wasn't many people, but the ones that were there, glanced at us every couple of could blame them? We looked like we just one Homecoming King and Queen and our celebratory dinner was an overused fast food place that served diabetes.

But, I wasn't complaining. I couldn't even if I wanted to- my mouth was full. Both of ours were, moans of pleasure escaping our lips every now and then. We both had ketchup on our lips and we both didn't give a damn.

It was weird watching Natsu stuff his face, though. He ate more than I though was possible. Burger after burger, fry after fry, he never stopped eating.

Well except once. A young boy around my age, 18 or 19, with sandy, blonde hair and pale blue eyes was staring at us. Of course, I ignored him and Natsu did too. To an extent. After 60 seconds of the boy's focused gaze, Natsu placed down his burger, looked straight at the poor boy and said: "Did you need something?"

Obviously missing the fiery glint in Natsu's eyes the cocky little bastard replied, "Did I say I needed something?" Before turning to me and winking. His friends behind him laughed, but my jaw dropped. No one talked to Natsu like that. _No one._

Natsu stood up. And completely ignoring the boy's comment growled, "Cause it seems like you need your ass kicked. And I wouldn't want to keep you from that."

"Uhh, Natsu." I said loudly. "I'm pretty sure it's illegal to beat up little boys."

Natsu gave me a side grin as the boy turned to me, "Oi, I ain't no little boy!" His face turned red and his friends continued to laugh.

I ignored him and threw down $50 (the cost of all Natsu's food) "Let's go Natsu. This place just got real boring, real fast."

I gestured for him to give me his elbow and he did. Then, just as we reached the door, Natsu took the cup in his hand, filled to the rim with Coke, and hurled it at the boy's face. His aim was true and the Coke sailed through the air, hitting the boy square in the nose with an audible crunch before exploding all over his clothes.

Together we sprinted to our luxurious sports car. I hopped into the passengers seat as Natsu jumped up and slid feet first across the hood of the car with evident ease. Natsu revved the engine twice before pulling out, and as we did, we saw the kid inside scream out in frustration so loud, vein were visible on his neck and forehead.

We laughed the whole way home, Natsu mimicking the boy every now and then, sending new waves of uncontrollable laughter through us.

* * *

The next couple of weeks passed in a blur. In the mornings, I would wake up and train with Natsu, using his experience to my benefit. In the late afternoon, he would work on the bomb while I typed up upcoming reports or did research on our "project". Most evenings, I go out with Rogue and don't return till at least midnight. If I'm not with Rogue, I'm at my room at Love and Lucky playing music at my secret room. By the time I do get home, Natsu is never there, yet somehow whenever I wake up, he is always awake and working.

Who knows where he really goes?

Other than on strict business related times, we didn't see much of each other. The only time he would make any contact with me is when he corrects my posture or tells me to hand him some kind of tool. Besides those rare occasions, he was always distant.

Although, it's not like I tried very hard to get his attention either. For the most part, I was focused on Rogue. Whenever I wasn't with him, I thought of him. And when we were together, my thoughts were on Natsu.

Overall, my mind is a hot, tangled, mess.

* * *

 **Third Person POV**

"Natsu, I'm going out!" she called over her shoulder.

He grunted back in response.

"I'll be back in a couple hours!" she told him. Lucy waited, but didn't get an answer this time. A frown on her face, she wrapped the snow white scarf around her pale neck and left, slamming the door.

She was met with a strong gust of wind and soft white powder. She hailed a taxi and watched the expensive apartment get smaller and smaller before disappearing out of view.

 _'Maybe I should skip this date with Rogue today,'_ she thought, Natsu invading her mind once again. ' _I haven't really talked to him in awhile.'_ She thought of Rogue and his soft lips on hers. That sense of stability and safety she felt when ever she touched him.

But Natsu was her partner. If he wasn't okay, then neither was she.

Finally, she sighed in surrender. "Hey," she said rapping her knuckles against the glass, "Turn it around."

The cab driver grumbled something about her still having to pay and made a sharp u-turn, throwing Lucy against the glass.

This time it was her turn to mumble under her breath, while putting on her seatbelt of course.

A couple minutes later, she paid the guy and slammed the door, trying desperately to ignore the cold.

She strode into the lobby and and rode up the elevator to the top floor. She opened the door, using her key loudly as a warning to Natsu so he knew she was coming in.

"Natsu?" She peered into the living room. "Natsu?" She called out again, looking around. To her surprise, the room was deserted.

She wandered around, checking the bathrooms, closets, and even her own room for the missing boy.

"Natsu?" She called out, more frantically. He wouldn't leave right after her, would he?

She thought of calling the police, but immediately discarded that idea- they were still technically "wanted" after all.

After a couple minutes if pacing, she settled on the couch facing the door with a cup of hot chocolate, deciding to wait for him.

She stayed awake for hours, but exhaustion over took her.

* * *

The door creaked open and a ray of light cut across the room. Lucy's eyes automatically shot open. She must've fallen asleep waiting for Natsu. Lucy didn't dare move for fear it would alert the perpetrator of her presence.

The figure moved around in the kitchen, stumbling with every step, but managing to still be quiet. She didn't even hear the door shut, but the ray of light suddenly disappeared. Under the cover of the dark, she rolled off the couch and landed lightly on her hands and feet, stomach low to the floor.

Looking up, she saw the moon high in the sky. How long had she been asleep?

Crawling to the side of the couch, she took the gun hidden in a space underneath the couch. She breathed in and out. She was trained for this. The trespasser stepped closer to her. She waited, hesitated for a millisecond before leaping from her spot on the side of the couch and pointing the gun at the mystery man.

Sooner than she had time to comprehend, the man grabbed her wrist and twisted them in a way that made her drop the gun and in the same motion her back was against the man's chest and her arms trapped, crossed in a position so that she was incapable of escaping or using it against him.

She was breathing heavily in both frustration and fear. Then slowly the man leaned down next to her ear and whispered in a voice that made her eyes open wide in surprise, "Next time," his breath smelled heavily of alcohol and his skin of blood, "Don't hesitate."

So she did the one thing she could do. She took his advise. She didn't hesitate as she threw her head back into his nose. Unfortunately, he had felt her tense and turned his head slightly so she hit only his cheek. But still, she knew it would leave one hell of a bruise.

"Oi, fuck!" He exclaimed, letting her go to clutch his cheek with both hands.

Quickly, she spun to face him. He was in worse shape than she imagined. Out of reflex, she gasped. His clothes were covered in dirt and wet, dark red splotches. He had a cut on his lower lip and his forehead was bruised. His shirt was torn and his knuckles bloody. He had a slight limp and was leaning heavily on his left leg. "Natsu, what the hell happened to you?!" Lucy screamed, her voice filled with concern.

She started yelling at him, trying in vain to get details, or any understanding of what happened, while he kept mumbling "I'm fine, I'm fine." over and over again while taking off his beloved leather jacket (that didn't seem to have a scratch on it) and hanging it up.

"Ugh! Natsu, follow me!" She proceeded to lead him to her bathroom, where she instructed him to take off his shirt. She then started a hot bath and when she turned around she saw him still struggling to take off his shirt. "Get your drunken fucking ass over here!" She told him. He stumbled over to her, and she impatiently ripped off his shirt, tossing it aside.

"Now take off your pants, but for the love of God, keep on your boxers!" She left the bathroom to grab her first aid kit. She returned a minute later to find him, not only with his jeans still on, but he was playing with one of her tampons and laughing drunkenly to himself.

"KYAA! NATSU, NO!" She ripped the tampon box from his hand and told him-more forcefully this time- to take of his jeans. Then, seeing him prepare to take off his boxers as well, she screamed. Again.

"NATSU, NO. KEEP ON YOUR UNDERWEAR." He looked at her in confusion, but then nodded happily and removed his pants.

She sighed, her face red from screaming and also seeing Natsu more than half naked in front of her.

"Now. Get. In. The. Tub." She ordered. She watched him sink into the tub slowly and left after placing a bottle of cheap body wash in on the side of the tub.

She sunk onto her bed taking a deep breath. A couple minutes later, she got up and knocked on the door. "Natsu, I'm coming in, okay?"

"Mmm," he said from the tub. Lucy opened the door slowly and entered, placing a new change of clothes on the toilet seat.

"Natsu. What happened?" She asked him softly, seeing he had sobered up.

He closed his eyes and shook his head. How would she feel knowing he wasn't the indestructible superman that everyone believed him to be? That he couldn't keep her safe in the end?

"Natsu-" She stared to coax him.

He opened his eyes staring into her warm chocolate eyes with his onyx ones. "Later." He told her firmly.

To his relief, she nodded. He could postpone this conversation. His pride was already sunken knowing that she had seen him like this. It brought a disgusting taste to his mouth. "You weren't with Rogue." He stated before he could stop himself.

Her face reddened, but she didn't know why. She's with Rogue now. He knows that. "Right..." she answered.

He closed his eyes and sunk himself deeper in the water.

"Um, Natsu," he opened one eye lazily, "I need you to to straighten up..." She told him, holding up her first aid kit.

"I can do it myself." He snapped. He wasn't useless. His pride was falling rapidly.

"Oh." She squeaked, placing the first aid kit on the toilet seat and backing up.

"I won all of my fights, by the way." He blurted out.

"Ok." With that she left the room, shutting the door softly. He sighed at her departure.

 _'Well now how am I gonna get the cuts on my back?'_ He wondered, cursing his ever dropping ego.

* * *

Exactly 12 minutes later, Natsu turned the door nob and exited the large bathroom quietly. There on the opposite side on the bed, sat Lucy "Princess" Heartfilia, sobbing quietly. He stepped out of the bathroom and approached his partner.

As he neared her, he noticed something in her hands. His t-shirt, soaked in blood.

"Lucy?" he called out softly. She straightened, still facing away from him, and started wiping at her eyes furiously as if maybe he hadn't noticed her tears. Then her sobs turned into hiccups and ragged breaths.

Suddenly, Natsu was at her side, his arm pulling her into his chest. "Shhh... Lucy it's okay," he told her softly. "There's nothing to cry about. I'm fine," he used his other hand to cup her chin and force her to face him. "See," he said brightly, "I'm fine."

Her eyes filled up again and Natsu's eyes went wide. "No, no, Luce, it's okay," he whispered into her ear as she started sobbing again. He pulled her tightly to his chest.

"Natsu, I-"

"Shh, you don't have to tell me now."

Her small figure curled up next to him as he held her tight. Finally, she her sobs turned into unsteady breaths, then regulated ones.

She put her hands on Natsu's chest and pushed herself away just enough to look up at his face. She took a deep breath.

"Natsu, I was so afraid," she told him finally, "I thought the Big Bang took you," she paused trying to regain herself.

"You don't have to tell-" She stopped him, putting up a hand.

"I thought they took you, because of..." Lucy trailed off and Natsu's eyes grew wide.

"No, Lu-"

"I already told you!" She yelled, tears forming in her eyes again. "They know me. They know who I am. They have a thing for revenge."

"But you didn't do anything to them!" He protests.

"As they saw it, they owned me. By running away, I took away one of their possession."

"They don't own you!" He yelled, angry now. "No one owns you! You're not a possession that can be kept and sold!"

She bit her lip, and he looked at her. She wouldn't meet his eyes. "You're not, Lucy." He said firmly.

She looked out the window where snow was beginning to fall again and sighed.

"Lucy..."

"It could happen, you know. They might realize who I am. They can hurt you at any given moment."

"Lucy," he said with a playful grin. "I'm the Salamander, remember? No one can stop me."

"You haven't met them," she looked at him, her eyes filled with sorrow and memories that are better left forgotten. "If they can't hurt you physically, they'll hurt the people you love. And trust me: that hurts a lot more."

She paused, looking deeper into his eyes as if she might find the truth there, he looked away, because she just might. He wouldn't put it past her.

"Natsu," she stared the conversation that he dreaded since he first met her. He remembered grinning at her confidence- the girl just over 5 feet and not even out of high school. He remembered her pout as he teased her at Titiania's office. "What happened to you tonight?" It was tonight, he realized, that he would share his history.

"You deserve to know the truth."

She looked at him curiously, "I just wanna know what happened tonight."

He ignored her comment, "How much do you already know about the last mission I went on?"

Her eyes opened wide and she looked away.

Natsu sighed, "You have the right to know everything. Just," he looked around at their cozy apartment, "Not here." he finished.

Lucy brightened, "I know just the place."

* * *

30 minutes later, Lucy stood at the entrance of Love and Lucky fumbling with a small, rusted key. A gust of wind almost blew her from her feet. She felt a firm hand on her waist,m steading her.

"I got it Natsu," she grumbled.

She felt Natsu chuckle deeply behind her and a blush rose to her cheeks.

Finally, the flimsy door opened and they stepped into the café. Natsu looked around pretending it was only his first time seeing the room.

She smiled over her shoulder shyly, "Follow me."

Taking out a map, she led him through a series of turns and bends, finally stopping at a simple wall with beige wallpaper.

She takes the rod and opens the first door and guides Natsu to the staircase, blindly. He pretends to not know the way.

She takes out her larger key and swings open the door, entering her secret escape.

"What is this place?" Natsu asks slowly, still quite amazed.

"Isn't it beautiful?" she asked, eyes shining.

"Wow," he said, breathless despite seeing the room before. He felt a warm hand slip into his own and looked down at the pale fingers that grasped his own.

"Come on," she said, leading him to white and gold armchairs.

He sat opposite from her, shifting uncomfortably in the cushioned chair.

"Well?" she prodded, curled up on her own chair. "I took you all the way over here, you might as well tell me what you wanted to tell me."

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right."

Natsu took a deep breath, facing his trusted partner. "5 years ago I had a partner named Lisanna. She was my best friend... but she was more than that too..." Without Natsu told her the whole story. How Lisanna and himself were sent in, but only he left. How she screamed his name over and over. How he couldn't stop the bomb in time to complete the plan. Get Lisanna and get out.

"She saved the whole city of Mongolia that day. But I couldn't save the one person that I was supposed to protect," he looked up at Lucy, his eyes wet, and gave her a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "You see? I can't protect you. I can't save a single fucking person!" he looked down, his hands shaking helplessly. He held them up for her to see, as if she missed it.

"I'm not the legendary hero that everyone thinks I am. Fuck, I wasn't even the one who really stopped the bomb! Lisanna did it. She's the hero. We couldn't even find her body in the wreckage. We couldn't give her that one thing. I couldn't even give her that one thing," he closed his eyes, "In end, it _was_ me that killed her. It wasn't FTSA, it wasn't the Russian Triple, it was me.

"I could've saved her, but instead I stopped the bomb... and I just left her there."

A slender body slid into the chair he sat, partially sitting on his lap, and threw her arms over his neck. "Natsu... No, it wasn't your fault. If you didn't stop the bomb, everyone would've died."

"I should've died with her. I should've died trying to get to her. Instead, I saved my pathetic fucking self."

"You were only 19!" she protested, angry at him for blaming himself for her death.

He looked at her, so close to him, "That's no excuse to leaving her there to _die_ by her fucking self!" he snapped. "That wasn't the right choice! How would you feel if you left Rogue to die? I know how you feel about him. It's in your eyes, Lucy."

She shifted in his lap, facing toward him completely. "Natsu... you may have made choices that your not proud of, and there's no way to make it right... But you can choose to do the right thing, now."

"Right and wrong..." he brought his eyes up to hers and something in them made her nervous. "And if I don't know the difference?

She finally placed what it was in his eyes that made her blood pump. It was animal. And it had found his prey.

She stood up and backed up, slowly. "Natsu?" she said softy. Her blood was pumping furiously in her ears. He growled in reply, rising to follow her.

She felt the wall at her back, cold and firm. He stalked towards her. And finally, he reached out to touch her.

Her senses heightened and suddenly, she felt everything, saw everything, heard everything.

His hand grabbed her waist and pulled her into him. She used his momentum to raise herself up and wrap her legs around him.

His lips scooped up hers as they fought for control. He held her up and carrying her to the master bedroom. He slammed the door with his foot, kissing her passionately at the same time. He turned his back to the door, slamming her into it and bringing his body closer to hers.

She moaned and held him closer by his collar. He moved around, knocking bottles and brushes of an expansive vanity and laying her atop it without breaking contact with her lips.

He lay her onto the bed and she rose up to meet his lips.

She pulled him down on top of her, tasting his lips and exploring his mouth. Rolling over, she regained control. Hungry for more, of his touch, she offered him her neck.

Remembering Rogue, he took her offer greedily. Every touch burned into her like fire. She was hot and cold at the same time.

He moaned, sucking her neck. Then, rolled her over so he was sitting atop her. He ripped off her shirt without leaving her lips and removed his own shirt. With that, she moved her hands to explore every inch of his bare back and chest. His lips trailed down her neck then back up to her lips. He kissed her, his tongue attempting to slide in, but she grinned, teasing him and keeping her mouth closed.

Impatiently, he bit her lower lip and tugged it down, successfully opening her mouth. With an animal-like pleasure, she tasted the metallic tang of blood in her mouth and moaned.

He took his hands and slid them down her curvy figure to her hips and fiddled with the hem of her pants. Understanding, she kicked them off impatiently. Bringing her body closer to his, he brought his hand around her to her back and unhooked her bra. She grinned at his skill and slid the whole thing off.

She felt something harden beneath her thighs and grinned, breaking contact to look up at him. _Not today._

He smiled shyly and gave a slight shrug in a way only Natsu could before continuing to kiss her.

That night, they fell asleep together in that bed, their bodies intertwined. And for the first time in a long time, neither of them had any nightmares.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

PSYCHH

BITCH YOU THOUGHT.

Nah, but they're keepin' it intense make-out so far.

FFR PLS

uh I think this is the longest chapter word-wise

Thanks for all the support ily

BYYEEEE


	21. Chapter 21

**Third Person POV**

Lucy blinked her eyes open, the sun momentarily blinding her. She took in the room that was once a gorgeous, gentle scene.

Across the room, broken furniture lay with sheets and expensive articles strewn around the floor.

With a disbelieving groan, the memories of the night flooded back to her. With a start, she realized something was missing. Or rather someone.

The room was cold, freezing, actually. And she knew from experience, that whenever Natsu was in the room, the temperature would never be this low. She looked around again, looking for Natsu dismally at first, then studying the mess on the floor.

Pieces of broken wood, what looked to be a marble figurine of a golden angel, cracked of course, shattered glass, ranging from perfectly clear, to a mixture of bold colors, among the mess was a stunning black dress, and, like all the items around the masterpiece, it was broken.

What wasn't in view, was any of Natsu's clothes- never mind Natsu himself. Her face heated up at the thought.

How _dare_ he? He came onto her. He made the first move. _He_ ripped away her clothes. And he left her laying in the mess they made together, confused, unsure, and more than a little furious. Somehow she sensed he wasn't just outside the door, either. Nor the building itself. He _left_ her.

She stared at the wall, unblinking. Then suddenly, she picked up one of the only thing in the room left unbroken- her cellphone- and hurled in at the wall, watching it shatter. At the same time, she made a sound in between a screech and a sob, leaving a horrible, bittersweet taste in her mouth.

"Natsu," she whispered, "Why do you do this to me?"

* * *

An hour later, Lucy was on her way to the place she currently called home. Her once flawless dress was duct taped in the back where a tear marked its imperfection, keeping the dress more or less intact. On a stroke of luck, she had found a white, floor-length, fur coat that failed to match her outfit. Fortunately, it did a great job of keeping out the cold and covering the mess she called a body.

Half an hour later, she stood in front of her apartment, fighting the tears that threatened to fall. Did he really care so little for her that he would treat their- as much as she wished it was untrue- connection, as a little less of a one night stand? Or, did he leave _because_ it wasn't a one night stand. She shuddered at the thought, smiling at how much the dress she wore and herself were so much alike. Once confident, but now torn and ruined. Used, in both meanings of the word. The smile never reached her eyes.

* * *

 **First Person POV**

I stood at the front door, mustering up my courage so I could open the damn door. My mind flashed back to when I was only 15, trying to kiss the boy in my training class, only to have him turn his face at the last moment, so my lips only just grazed the bottom of his jawline.

He didn't say anything after that- didn't even look at me-, but he didn't need to. I understood what it meant. He wasn't interested.

Shaking my head, I brought myself back to reality, and, before I could lose my confidence, I muttered, "Fuck it" and threw open the door.

Natsu sat at their four chair table, drinking coffee and typing away on his lap top. He ignored my interest, but flinched, nevertheless. I bit the inside of my cheek. Was he really going to pretend nothing was wrong?

I headed towards him, forcing myself to slow down and walk. As I neared the table, I threw my keys down onto the table, disappointed at the quiet sound it made.

He frowned down at his computer, before visibly struggling to raise his head and look me in the eye. "Ah, Lucy. You're home. Hey."

My nostrils flares. "Oh _hello,_ Natsu," I hissed at him, practically barring my teeth. "How was your night?" I asked him venomously.

He shrugged, his eyes returning to the screen. "Uneventful. Quite boring, actually." He let out a laugh, seemingly good-hearted and shook his head. "I imagined being with Lisanna through most of it."

The evening? Was she sitting next to him all night? No, that wasn't what he meant. He meant what we did.

My jaw dropped to the floor. I knew how much Lisanna meant to him. I knew how much he despised hearing her name. Yet, here he was, telling me that he kissed me, touched me in ways that left me trembling for more, only because he was telling himself that I was his old lover.

Tears pricked at my eyes. To my absolute shame, my _mortification,_ I started to hyperventilate- something I hadn't done since I lived as a damned sex slave to the man who killed my parents. Forcefully, I shoved it down. I pushed down my sorrow, my hurt, and resorted to quivering in place.

For the second time in minutes, I had to keep myself from running to, then from, my problems.

My hand curled against the doorknob, absorbing its cold. I grit my teeth, demanding my shaking to cease. As much as I detested mentioning our night spent together, I couldn't help wonder why he left- or why he came in the first place.

I brought up the mental walls that I let him tear down. Never making that mistake again. I blinked away the tears that threatened to come and turned to face him. He wouldn't see anymore of my tears today.

"Why?"

The typing of his keyboard ceased, filling the air with uncomfortable silence. Finally, he cleared his throat, "Why what? Why did I imagine Lisanna? Well, I sup-"

"No, that's not it. Why did you leave?"

This time, he brought his eyes up to meet mine. Dark and narrowed, they glared at me. "I realized who it was next to me. So I left."

"You ran!" I snapped at him. "You ran. You always just run away from your problems, don't you?" I scoffed, shaking my head at him with disgust. I hated him. I hated him for leaving. I hated him for using me. I hated him for loving Lisanna. But most of all I hated him for forcing me to fall for him. For loving him in a way he could never return. "You ran from me, just like you ran from Lisanna, when she needed you the most. I assume she became a problem to you then?"

As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt a mix of sudden regret and a sick satisfaction, but it was the delight in me that scared me the most.

It's rule number 1: Don't mention your partners dead lover that he might've been able to save in order to win an argument.

I mustered enough courage to find his eyes again. It was there I fully realized my mistake. It was betrayal. Utter disbelief that I spoke of the one topic he refused to tell anyone else. I felt as if I needed to puke, and yet, I knew it was nothing compared to how he must be feeling.

To my despair, he started laughing, a rough, crazy, madman's laugh. One without a hint of amusement. As quickly as it started, it stopped. "You," he growled. "Have no right to speak of her like that."

"Natsu, I- I didn't-"

"Oh, but you did."

"I didn't mean it!" I shouted, pleading with him to forgive me.

"Really?" He drawled, harsh sarcasm seeping from his words. "Do you think I run from my problems?"

I stayed silent, but that told him more than any amount of words could.

"That's what I thought." He scoffed.

"Natsu, I-" I... I what? I did think he ran from his problems and somehow I knew saying a simple sorry wouldn't be enough- not this time.

"It wasn't your-" I began, only to be cut off by a small, out-of-place sound.

" _Meow"_

* * *

 **Third Person POV**

He knew it was the truth. He couldn't be with her. Not with her as he was with Lisanna. Not while he saw Lisanna every time he looked at _her._ Not when his dreams were overrun by both of their screams and desperate pleads.

" _Meow"_

"What the fuck was that?" Lucy's eyes opened wide, her hands searching her body for a gun that wasn't there.

Her eyes snapped toward the sound. After a second she heard light clawing on the far side of the room. She looked at Natsu, but he was looking down.

 _What the hell?_

Lucy shook her head and tiptoed to the coat closet that held their in-progress weapon of destruction. Using one hand to grab her whip from seemingly out of nowhere, she used her other hand to yank the door open.

For a moment, the door started to swing open with ease. Then the moment passed and the door slammed itself shut.

She looked around in confusion. There, a few inches above her head, tan, slinger fingers held the door shut.

"Natsu," she questioned in surprise. "Natsu, leggo!"

"I... I can't." His eyes still faced his feet, never meeting her eyes.

"Natsu, I've had a rough fucking day. And if you don't open this door. You. Will. Regret it."

He stole a peek at her, and, upon meeting her hard stare, looked away.

"I can't open-" With a very small, almost nonexistent amount of hesitation, she kneed him in his balls.

Now, if one had listened hard enough and wasn't overcome by immediate, agonizing pain, they might've heard her whispering "Lucy kick" before, during, and after contact.

He doubled over instantly, groaning and wishing she had let him finish the rest of his sentence: 'I can't open the door without explaining first.'

Ignorant of his thoughts, she pushed over Natsu onto his side, resulting in more pain.

Finally, with Natsu out of the way, she opened the door, whip in hand and ready to strike.

...

"Oh my god..." There in the middle of the closet, sat a tiny blue cat with a little white belly and a long, white tipped tail.

And, to her astonishment and immense joy, miniature, fake, white angel wings were attached to his back.

" _Meow."_

"Oh, you poor baby," cooed Lucy. "Oh, who left you in the closet, cutie?"

She squealed as he lifted a tiny little paw to point at the now, tear-brimmed man on the floor. "Natsu did it?!"

He meowed again, but this time, it sounded very much like a 'Yeah!'

She picked up the tiny blue cat and hugged him to her chest. "What's your name little guy?"

Behind her, Natsu began to speak, or rather croak, "It's Ha-"

"Not you! Fucking douche... I was speaking to the cat." she turned back to the little guy. "What is it, buddy?"

He meowed again, but his time, she was positive he spoke to her. "Happy!" he had said.

Natsu, had stood up while they were speaking. "Lucy..." he growled.

Happy cocked his head at her. "Yes, I am Lucy," she had told him, smiling brightly.

"Give me my cat back!"

She replied without taking her eyes off her "precious baby". "Oh, no. I think I'll keep him."

"Lucy-"

She sighed, looking up at him. "Either I tell Master you kept a cat or I keep him in my room."

"Meow!"

"No, you don't understand."

She sighed again, looking back at Happy. "Or... I _could_ just tell... Titania." Happy meowed his support.

He paled at this. "You. You wouldn't," he said, staring at his traitorous cat.

She walked back to her room, turning in the door frame to stare at his miserable face, "Wouldn't I?"

With that, she slammed the door.

* * *

Happy walked clumsily on her bed, fluffy and poofy from being washed and dried. Lucy was changed now, into a tight, white sweater dress, that hugged her curves. Pink lip gloss stained her lips and mascara complemented her eyelashes. Although they could never be as long as Natsu's, she still loved them.

"How long have you and Natsu been together?" she asked the wobbling cat.

He looked up at her and shook his head. Lucy frowned, but asked more questions. "Where did he get you?"

Happy raised an eyebrow at her. "Ok, ok. Um, have you been with him before we came here?"

"Aye!"

She smiled at his adorable voice. "You haven't been with him forever, right?"

"Aye!"

He's had him for this long?

"Wait, you've been with his since you were born?"

"Yup!"

"Did... he buy you?"

This time he made a sound like a 'No', except the "oh" part was extended.

"Oh." She smiled at the thought of Natsu, a little boy, having chosen a kitten from Happy's mother. "He knew your mother then?"

"Noooooo!" Happy squeaked.

"Did you know your mother?"

"Noooooo!"

"Do you have a mother?"

Happy stayed quiet and looked away. Lucy frowned and scooped him up back into her arms. "Oh, my poor baby!"

Just then, a knock came down on her door. "Lucy, Rogue's calling... Do I... Answer it?"

"No, no! I'm coming." She left Happy on her bed and threw open her door, grabbing her phone from Natsu. She leaned against the doorframe. "Hello?"

 _Oh, hey. Uh, how does lunch sound? I know this one place._

She looked up at Natsu and he shook his head, his superior hearing understanding Rogue as if he was on speaker.

He looked at her, communicating without words the way only partners could. _'No. Remember last time? Packed with spies. And not the ones on our side. You pick the place.'_

"Uh, actually, I know this place we could go."

 _Yeah? What's it called?_

"You'll see when we get there."

 _Okay... yeah, I'll pick you up, in say, half an hour?_

Natsu nodded his approval.

"Sounds great." Lucy replied, affection lacing her voice.

 _Okay, see you then. Love you, bye._

Natsu stiffened beside her. For a mere moment she froze herself. "I love you, too... Bye." She told Rogue, her eyes never leaving Natsu for a second.

She heard Rogue release a sigh of relief before ending the call.

Natsu spoke first, his voice annoyingly normal. "You better get ready."

She nodded in reply, to afraid to speak. Stepping back, she returned to the safety of her room, both of them well aware she had already gotten ready.

* * *

"Are you leaving now?" Natsu asked, seeing her pull on her knee-high black boots.

She checked her cellphone casually, watching a red dot blink consistently toward a building that looked very much like her own apartment.

"Yeah, he'll be here in like 20 seconds and I don't want to keep him waiting."

Natsu scoffed, "You know he might like you more if you kept him waiting."

She gave him a meaningful look in reply, "Oh, I think he likes me just enough," she paused dramatically, "One might even say he loves me."

The smug smile she wore slipped off as he started laughing, a strange, confusing laugh that sounded like something between a giggle and a mockery. Finally, he paused long enough to explain, "No, he doesn't actually love you. He only loves the idea of you. The side of you who lives in an apartment by herself," he gestured at the room, now void of all his belongings. "The side of you who can do whatever she wants because she's a mere teenager without any responsibilities. Who isn't actually bugging his car and using him for information. The side of you that loves him back. He doesn't know the real you. And he never will."

To her the words felt like a slap in the face. Of course she knew their relationship was faked. But even with training and memos drilled into her, she had fell far too much and far too hard for the ignorant man. She hadn't realized how much she had started to depend on him. He was her constant. Something that would always be there, waiting for her. As much as it hit her emotionally, it also took quite a bit out of her pride. After all-

"Lucy?" The voice snapped her out of her thoughts. From the tone of his voice, it wasn't the first time he called her either. "You okay?"

"Mmhmm."

"Okay, well," he took this time to throw his bare arm over her shoulders, never able to stay mad at her for long. Then she flinched unintentionally. His arm dropped awkwardly to his side. He cleared his throat and with his other hand, he produced a thin, wire-like string.

This brought her attention back to him.

"This," Natsu explained, appearing unaffected, "Is our secret weapon. First, you need to peel of the tape on the bottom. Then you just have to find a way to get this secured around the perimeter of your table, most likely the bottom. After that, anyone that follows your boyfriend-" she scoffed at the label. "-won't be able to hear your conversation through any sound amplifiers or listening devices. No frequencies can go through either way. But, if he's recording the conversation, it will still record and can be listened to outside of the table. The wire will be good for anything inside the square and for about a foot and a half radius," he paused thoughtfully. "You may want to make sure he stays close; so keep 'em close."

"Impressive..." She examined the device for a moment before striking her hand forward to snatch the device out of his hands.

At the last second, the wire got pulled from her grasp. "Tch, tch, tch." he chastised. "What did I say?"

She groaned, but complied, giving him step-by-step instructions for the instrument and getting the wire in return.

An indistinct buzz stopped her from further examination of her prize. She pulled out her phone, reading several text messages from Rogue.

"What'd he sa-" Natsu started, eyeing her phone.

"Sorry gotta go!"

She ran to the door, throwing it open. In the doorway, she paused, turning back to Natsu. "Um, Natsu, where are you going to be through all of this?"

He smirked in that annoying way of his, "Around."

Unknowingly she scrunched up her face at his vagueness. "Okay... Just. Don't..."

His eyes sparkled knowingly. "Don't what?"

"Just be careful, Natsu." She could never stay mad at him for long.

He laughed, "Oh, don't worry, I'm _always_ carefu-" The door slammed shut.

* * *

"8 Island? Never heard of it."

"Yeah, well its a bit of a whole in the wall."

Rogue grabbed her hand tentatively, "Well, I'm sure its great."

Lucy beamed at him and squeezed his hand, "You'll love it."

In truth, she felt a thousand times worse than she showed. She couldn't help but think about her feelings for Rogue- and how faked they should be. The fact that he didn't see the gleam in her eyes or hear the difference in her laugh only proved Natsu right.

They found a table outside and while Rogue grabbed menus, Lucy secured the wire as discretely as she could manage.

When he came back out, they ordered without incident.

Finally, with menus gone and lunch started, she got down to business. She leaned forward on her elbows, taking the time to study his face. Who knows how much longer she'll be able to?

In response, he copied her, so that their faces were only inches away. In a bold move he hadn't showed for a while, leaned closer in and kissed the tip of her nose. "So," she began, "What's the occasion?"

He leaned back slightly in surprise. "Occasion? Does there have to be an occasion?"

She smiled slyly, "Well, this is a brunch, meaning you wanted something different and special. Secondly, this meeting itself is a little impromptu, don't you think? And of course, you were surprised when I mentioned an occasion, but you were surprise I brought it up, not the fact that it was mentioned at all."

His smile grew even wider, if possible. "You know me too well."

She smiled innocently, "You have no idea."

"So, the occasion, one needing brunch to be declared, is that, well, you know I live in my uncle's house, right? Well, how would you like to move in with me? Of course, you would have to wait a week or two before doing so. Ivan is leaving for a week or so and he would like to meet you again before you move in."

She froze, unable to hide her surprise. Noticing her hesitation, a look of terror came over him, "You- you don't have to if you don't wanna, you know? I'm sure my-"

"No, no, no!" she said hurriedly, snapping out of her stupor, "I would love too. I was just surprised, is all."

Seeing his skeptic look, she gave him another one of her "honest" smiles. "It'd be wonderful." She lay her hand over his and sighed loudly, "Too bad Ivan'll be gone, though. Where is he going, anyway?" She leaned forward and, again, Rogue followed her lead.

"Big Bear Lake. It's a few hours from here."

"A few hours? Still in Cali, though, right?"

"Yeah," he paused in thought, "Two hours by train, I think."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, he goes there annually on a ski trip our something."

"Interesting," she murmured to herself.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." She gave him her famous, disarming smile. He grinned back at her.

* * *

"NATSU! Natsu, guess what!"

The room stayed silent.

"NATSU!"

"Wha- OI!"

She ran to the living room, and poked him with the tip of her boot. "Oi, what happened?"

He glared at up on her from his half sitting up and half laying down position on the floor near the fireplace, and rubbed his head.

"What happened?" she repeated.

He glared accusingly at the coffee table. "I was napping" he grumbled.

"I see- actually, I don't, but whatever. Guess what happened today!"

He glared at her. "What?"

"Rogue told me something that sounds _very_ promising."

"And that would be?"

She frowned at his bluntness and sighed, "Ivan's gonna be in Big Bear Lake for the next week, more or less. He goes there annually on a supposed ski trip. There. Are you happy?"

"Actually... Yes. Yes I am."

"And also..."

"GODDAMNIT SPEAK WOMAN."

"Rogue asked me to move in with him."

…

"I said yes."

"Yeah, I would think so."

"Really? Why?"

"No reason." He replied dismissively.

"No reason-!? Natsu!"

"Yeah?" he asked calmly.

"Ugh! You're insufferable!"

"Thanks, I think."

"NO, NATSU, YOU IGNORANT SLUT, THAT'S NOT A GOOD THING!"

"OI, I AIN'T NO A IGNORANT SLUT!"

She stared at him incredulously, unable to form a response to his grammatically incorrect sentence.

See, Lucy is a smart individual. She isn't at a loss for words often. In fact, words are her specialty, but on this particular day, she was so unbelievably bewildered that the outcome of her bafflement was not great.

Lucy screamed at him.

And, being, well, Natsu, he screamed back without hesitation. In an even higher pitch.

* * *

A while later, throat sore, and wondering why in hell she would participate in a six and a half screaming contest, she threw up her arms and left Natsu in the living room, heading towards her own room.

She shut the door behind her and leaned against it. She closed her eyes and started to sigh, but stopped at the thought of her burning throat.

Her eyes opened, and there, on the foot of the bed, was a gorgeous new, black, floor-length dress. The same one she had worn yesterday. And it was in perfect condition.

She picked it up to study it better. Closing her eyes again, she hugged it to her chest, breathing in the scent. A hint of summer and warmth tinged the edges. She breathed out, "Natsu."

* * *

 **Authors Note**

Well, sHiT. How's it goin' guys?

Thanks for stayin' with me, I know I've been gone a while. Unfortunately, I have some bad news. Schools ending, which means I'm going to be busy with studying for finals, then taking finals. Then you'll expect me to write all summer, right. Yeah, about that... I'm gonna be gone a month and half so I might only get 1-3 chapters in ALL summer.

But there's good new too. In exactly 26 days, it'll be our 1 year anniversary together. Time flies, I guess.

Um, so many people have stuck with me through this whole thing, they kept reading my terrible writing, they wrote the best reviews every single chapter, and I'm just super grateful for that. Like, I cannot even describe how happy I was to see that pretty much all of my old followers and friends are still here. Ya'll mean so much to me and I'm sorry for being so inactive lately.

So, ya know, thanks.


	22. Chapter 22

**Third-Person POV**

Lucy looked over her shoulder, searching for her missing partner. **"** Hey! Come on, we're going to be late!" She called impatiently.

Natsu groaned and popped his head up from his crawling position by the couch. "Patience, woman. I feel like I'm missing something..."

She glared at him, "Yeah, our train if you don't hurry up! Let's go!"

"Okay, okay... But if its something important, I'm blaming you."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, suck it up. Whatever you lost I'm sure we can pick up at the station or something."

He groaned, throwing his head back. "I'm still blamin' you."

"Whatever. I'm leaving, you can come with if you want."

He rolled his eyes and went back to searching under the couch. "Sure she will-

-BANG!- Natsu jumped at the sound of the door slamming shut, bumping his head on the coffee table. "The damn thing will break at this rate..." He mumbled as he scrambled to the door, tossing his duffel bag loosely over his shoulder on the way out.

.

.

* * *

Half an hour later, the pair arrived at the outdoor train station. It was packed with people and bags of every size and shape.

"Lucy, come on! The damn train is already boarding," Natsu complained. He reached down by her thighs and grabbed her pale hand, brushing against her bare skin as he did.

She looked up at him with a strange expression on her face, but he didn't get enough time to linger on it as speakers called out, "LAST CALL FOR BOARDING GROUP A! BOARDING GROUP A!"

With a struggling sprint, the two made it to the desk just as the attendant was turning around. "Wait! Wait up! We have two for Big Bear."

The lady stopped in her tracks and looked up at the gray clouds, sighing. She turned around, chewing gum- cherry flavored?- loudly and flipping her dirty blonde hair over her shoulder. "You're late- Oh. Oh my," she fluttered her eyelashes flirtatiously.

Lucy sighed. _Honestly? What the hell? This is getting really annoying- not to mention time-consuming. We can't just stop every time a horny woman notices Natsu... Geez_

"-and your hair is lovely, too. Uh, what brand do you use. It's so shiny and bright!" she gushed.

 _Wait...? What?_

Lucy looked up, surprised to find the woman looking at _her_. Not Natsu. _Ohh_

She smiled back at her. "Oh I use Aveda-"

"Really? Me too!"

"Yeah? Where do you get it? The place I get it from is so damn expensive!" Lucy said, groaning.

"Oh, I buy it online. Free shipping."

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah, they have like a million different sizes there, too!"

Lucy laughed, "No way!". To her surprise, she found she was actually enjoying this. She hadn't spoke to Levy for a while and their short sessions of girl talk always improved her mood.

"Yeah, I know! Well, I am Isabelle. And you better get going," she smiled. "Maybe I'll see you around?"

Lucy handed her their tickets. "Well I'll be out of town... visiting my boyfriend for the week..."

Isabelle grinned, understanding the hidden meaning, and handed them back their tickets. "Okay! Here you are."

"Thanks! I'm Lucy by the way."

She grinned and ran to catch up to Natsu who had already started to walk. Upon hearing her footsteps, he began to go faster and faster, finally sprinting for the train in their unofficial race.

They reached the train, passing by a glaring attendant in his forties who was in the middle of pulling the train doors closed.

A couple minutes later and they were sitting across from each other in their booth.

"You know," Natsu started, looking around suspiciously, "I still feel like I'm missing something important..."

He shook his head at her worried expression, "It's not mission related."

"Oh, okay." She smiled contently and went back to reading a romance novel that she swore was "adventurous and exciting".

Natsu studied her face, ignoring the mini skirt that rose up higher as she sat to the best of his ability. Instead he watched her expressions. Noticing the smile that she tried to hide when something sweet happened or the furrow of her eyebrows when she was angry at a character. Even the way her lips formed a perfect "o" as her eyes go wide when the author manages to surprise her, which, to his dismay, doesn't happen very often.

At the moment, she paused, smiling and pursing her lips together for a second before sighing happily and closing her book, making sure to keep track of her page. She leaned her head back against the wall and shut her eyes, barely suppressing a giggle.

Without warning, she lifted her head off the wall to find Natsu watching her with an amused expression. She made a weird face, her nose wrinkling itself in the process. "What?"

A look of surprise and then guilt crossed his face, "Uh, wha-"

In an unanticipated movement, the train lurched forward, launching Lucy across the space between them and into Natsu in an unusual closeness. She struggled to regain herself, blushing furiously while Natsu just sat there as his normally tan skin grew a pale, almost green color.

Finally finding her balance, she pushed herself back onto her seat. "Natsu! What the...hell? Natsu?" Lucy pulled her eyebrows together in confusion, watching Natsu groan in misery, his sickly form curled up innocently into a ball- three seconds from putting a thumb in his mouth.

"I... I know... what I... forgot." Natsu murmured .

Afraid she already knew the answers, Lucy asked the million dollar question. "What?"

Suddenly, Natsu shot up in his seat, eyes as big as saucers, his voice unusually small. "Motion sickness patches." With that, he turned to the window and stuck his head out, vomiting violently.

"Oh my gods. Natsu?!" Lucy exclaimed, hurrying to his side.

"No!" Natsu forced out, his voice muffled by the wind. His left hand shot out, preventing her from coming any closer. "Stay th-!"

"Oh, shut up!" She told him, her voice a mix of worry and annoyance.

His body weak from on and off tensing, she easily pushed his arm down and closed the distance. She put a hand on his back, comforting him the best she could in her position.

"Here, let me get an attendant," Lucy told him softly. She started to turn when slender fingers reached out and grabbed her wrist. At first she was confused to who it was, the hand being ice cold. "Natsu?"

"Don't. I don't-" He heaved, his body jolting each time. "I don't need a god damn-!"

"Natsu." Lucy took a step to bring herself closer to him. She reached out and grabbed a handful of his hair, pulling lightly.

He whimpered quietly in response, but brought his head up to look her in the eyes nevertheless.

 _Kind of like a puppy..._

She looked sternly into his eyes. "I am getting the attendant and they will make you feel better. Don't you want that?"

When he averted his eyes she knew she won.

A couple minutes later, the attendant came back. "I am sorry Miss, we don't have any of the patches left." A loud groan erupted from Natsu and the attendant bit her lip."...But we do have some motion sickness pills. Unfortunately, they don't set in for half an hour after consumption. I'm sorry. Is there anything else I can do for you?" Another groan came from Natsu and by now the woman was close to tears.

Lucy sighed, "It's fine, it wasn't your fault. He should've remembered the patches in the first place. But I will take the pills, please."

The attendant brightened immediately and handed over two blue pills. "Here you are!" She announced happily. She turned and left abruptly, almost skipping down the hall.

Lucy looked at the pills laying on her palm then at the back of the woman who was hurrying down the hall. "Thanks, I guess..."

Seconds later, Natsu was sitting miserably in his seat, his elbows resting on his knees. "Luce?"

She looked up from her place beside him. "Yes, Natsu?"

"It hurts."

She breathed in sharply and stared at the ceiling with her lips pursed. "Oh, hell," Lucy muttered to herself. She scooted over on their shared bench and patted her lap. "Come," she ordered him. "Put your head here."

"Uh... What?"

She sighed, already regretting her decision. Frustrated and embarrassed, she clenched her jaw. "Just. Do it."

"Okay, okay. Can I just ask why?"

She bit her lip, "When I was little, I always had these terrible headaches," She drew in a deep breath." And, whenever I did, my mom always did this for me. So... Just do it, okay?"

"Okay." He lay down on the bench, his body curled up comfortably. Taking a deep breath, Lucy brought her hands down into his hair, stroking the pink tuffs and weaving it between her fingers.

"Luce? Luce, what are you- Oh. OH. _Ohh._ Oh, Lucy! Oh-!"

She slapped her hand over his mouth, a flush creeping steadily up her neck. Passengers from both ends of the hall were staring at the pair. To her complete embarrassment, a few adults hand their hands over their children's eyes and ears.

Keeping her eyes on the gawking people, she bent her head down, whispering to Natsu, "If you make one more sound, I wont ever do this again. Ever. Okay?"

He cocked his head to the side, staring innocently up at her. "What? Why? What did I do? And why are you so red?" Then, a not-so-innocent look came over his eyes, along with a knowing grin. "Ohhh... I see..."

Seeing the mischievous glint in his eyes, she started to shake her head wildly. "Natsu," she whispered worriedly, "Natsu, no!"

Still laying down, he turn his body to look over his shoulders at some young women across from them and winked, flashing them a grin.

The two ladies looked equally disgusted and flustered as they looked down. Natsu on the other hand, looked immensely confused.

"Huh," he said with a frown, "That's not usually the kind of response I get- Hey!" He pouted at Lucy who was giggling softly.

Her eyes caught his and went wide with guilt. "Uh, sorry?"

"It's just... why would they do that?"

"Oh," she signed, "I don't know. Maybe it had something to do with the unruly puking and green tinge to your face? If not, it could always be the sex sounds." She shrugged. "Or something else, I don't know."

He scowled. "Just... Just keep doing the thing with my hair."

"Well," she said, taunting him, "I don't know if I really want to right now. After that incident and everything."

His expression changed into one of fear. "No... Please, Luce? Please! I'll... I'll do anything!"

"Hmm... I don't know. What's in it for me?"

"I...," he signed, defeat written all over him. "You can have the bed."

She smiled. Since they first booked their room at the resort, there had been argument over argument regarding the single king bed there. Needless to say, it got fairly violent.

"Well, okay, if you say so!" she said with mock brightness.

With a feeling of regret, he repositioned himself into a more comfortable position.

With her hands lost in the soft, smooth tangles of his hair, time sped by and a few minutes later, both of them were deep in sleep.

.

.

* * *

Something fluffy tickled her cheek, waking her from surprisingly pleasant dreams. Well, is pleasant came in the form of a _freaking_ devil! Okay, Natsu. And, yeah. She dreamt of him. In a completely professional way, of course...

A yawn escaping her mouth, she rubbed her cheek irritably. "Natsu?" Lucy stared down at him and brushed a pink tuff from his eyes. His long shadows cast shadows over his angular cheekbones, making them seem hollow.

His mouth had a downward tilt to it and his eyebrows were furrowed and covered in sweat. His hands were shaking, barely noticeable, but there. "Natsu," she called again, concern lacing her voice. She shook his shoulder- gently at first, then more urgent.

Natsu bolted upward, rugged breaths consuming his body. Swinging his legs of the bench, he faced Lucy, his eyes filled with worry, relief- and _fear._

Instantly, he pulled her to his chest, a small gasp escaping her throat. He spoke so softly that even with her head against his chest she could barely hear anything other then his rapidly beating hear. "Luce... You're okay. Thank God you're okay..."

Unable to think of anything to say to that, she stayed quiet, instead, taking her hands from their position firmly against his chest and wrapped them around him, just under his arms.

"Lucy," he breathed out unsteadily. Roughly.

At the sound of a clearing throat, Lucy sprang apart from Natsu, feeling the loss of his warmth immediately.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I guess its time for us to leave, huh?" Lucy laughed awkwardly, a flush rising steadily up her neck.

She pursed her lips to keep herself from uttering another word and glanced back at Natsu for backup. His hands lay at his side, but he otherwise hadn't moved from his position. His eyes were locked on hers the moment she looked back, intensity hiding any other emotion there might've been.

"I-" she looked back at the attendant. "Sorry. We'll go." She looked away again, grabbing her bags in one hand and Natsu's in another, pulling him hurriedly out of the train-

-and right into the middle of nowhere. Eyes wide, they spun 360 degrees and found nothing but barren soil and sand. A dry tree bare of any green stood a few feet away, swaying in the wind that only seemed to make it hotter.

The shock making way for despair, they turned back to the train- which had already left, because _why the hell not?_

The sun was just going down, leaving the last hour or so of light left.

"Oh. My. God," Lucy begun. "Natsu-"

"GOD DAMMMIT ALL! THIS IS FUCKING BULLSHIT!" He roared abruptly.

"Natsu! Come on!" She checked her watch. "It's six o'clock. This is the last stop which means we're only about three hours from...," she did a quick inhale of breath. "Oh," she said in a tiny voice. "FUCK!"

This time it was Natsu's turn to calm her down.

.

.

* * *

Almost three hours later, they stumbled upon the entrance of the hotel they were supposed to arrive at hours ago. Filthy and admittedly not without a pit stain or two, the keeper tried to force them to leave- until they produced their- fake- ID's that proved that they were, in fact, the ones who rented out a room at that fine establishment, though some people among the staff were still doubtful.

Key in hand they lugged their items to the elevator, pride disappearing at the thought of taking the stairs.

Breathing heavily, the blonde turned towards the windows that climbed the length of the building. Through it, she saw two sports cars screech to a halt at the curb. One silver and the other midnight black- the darkest thing she had ever seen. Both were sleek and clean, but something about them sent a shiver up her spine.

Two men stepped out in precise unison, dressed in expensive suits. Without a glance at the valet- teenagers who barely fit their suits- they each tossed theirs keys at them, once again in the unsettling unison.

The men walked towards the glass French doors and met in the middle, one of them a single step in front of the other. They each had the same arrogant set of the shoulders. They held their heads high in a superior way Lucy guessed they didn't earn honorably.

The brightness from inside the building illuminated the first of the men. With a surprised gasp, she recognized the sharp angles and and deep cuts on the face of multibillionaire Ivan Dreyar.

The second man was just an instant behind him. As the light touched his face, the elevator clicked shut, but not before Lucy got a good look at the man who destroyed everything she once knew.

.

.

* * *

She couldn't breathe. Her lungs screamed, but no matter how much she wanted to, her mind wouldn't give her body the satisfaction of air.

The mere glimpse of him was enough to finally break down all she had been struggling to keep up. A sob escaped her lips as her body collapsed.

She hadn't even felt his familiar arms catch her- Natsu's reflexes acting when her own wouldn't.

 _He found me. He found me._

She thought the words, not realizing she was speaking out loud.

"Lucy?" Natsu shook her arms, holding her up as he spoke; her legs refused to work.

The elevator dinged, marking their arrival and Natsu cursed. He swung her legs into his arms, carrying her bridal style outside the elevator. Bags in hand, he found their room and cursed once more before getting them inside the room.

Lucy, having stopped crying and resorted to just mouth the same three words over and over again, broke the silence.

"Natsu," she gasped out, her voice adopting a pleading tone. "Natsu... Ivan- he's- he's downstairs."

He tensed, but lay her gingerly onto the bed before speaking. "What do you mean? Did you see him."

She nodded, but barely.

Natsu furrowed his eyebrows and looked down at her, but even in her torn state, she saw the pity and a spark of anger went through her. "Natsu. Just go. Bug his phone, but don't make a move, until we talk about this, okay?"

He nodded. " we're talking about... _this_ too."

"Fine, but you'd better go now."

He caught the hard glint in her eye, and satisfied that she was okay- at least for now- he rushed off. The door closed behind him, the last shred of light disappearing, leaving Lucy alone in the dark.

"What the hell is going on?" she whispered helplessly into the dark.

.

.

* * *

The first hotel help he could find, Natsu punched in the face, knocking him out cold instantly.

With only a tinge a sympathy, he had dragged him into the janitors closet and stole his clothes. He found old disinfectant wipes with luckily some moisture still in it.

Appearing cleaner than he had started out, she raced down the the stairs to the lobby. When he arrived, the Ivan was already getting ready to go. Sweeping in smoothly, he grabbed a suitcase right from his hand. Using his foot, he pushed a baggage cart from behind him and grabbed it with his spare hand, throwing on the luggage. He was already reaching for the second one when a second hand stopped him.

He looked up to find a man so big, he gave Elfman a run for his money. He hand long, white, wavy hair that went down do his shoulder blades.

"Oh. Hello." Natsu said, sounding as nasally as he could.

"What do you think you're doing, kid?" the man asked gruffly with a poorly disguised threat hidden in his words.

Natsu hid a smile and bit back his 'Whatever the hell I want' line.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sir. I was just helping this man with his luggage."

"I can do that just fine."

"Oh, I am sure you could," he replied, sarcasm lacing his words. "But I'd be happy to take that burden from you. Besides," Natsu shot the broad shouldered man one of his famous toothy grins.

He nearly growled.

"Listen here, punk-"

To both of their surprise, it was Ivan who spoke up. "Hey, Jiemma, cut it out. Let the kid help."

Jiemma clenched his jaw, yet still managed to mumble a "yes, sir", but Natsu had tensed.

Jiemma. As in kill Lucy's parents and rape her, Jiemma. Natsu's fists tightened into balls, his fingernails digging into his palms so violently he started to feel a warm trickle of blood fall. He forced a smile at the both of them, pained and feeling guilty- as if he was betraying Lucy by not strangling the monster where he stood.

As if it physically pained him, Natsu unclenched his jaw. "Thank you, sir!"

He finished loading the cart and had to run to catch up to Ivan and Jiemma who had already left. When he reached them, they were entering the elevator. Natsu, moving with the grace of years of experience, slid into the elevator, cart following behind him.

Only to have a heavily muscled arm stop him between the two men. Natsu looked up, hating the fact that he had to do so, into the face of Jiemma. He was shaking his head in a clear "no".

Natsu plastered a confused look onto his face and looked up to Ivan for reassurance. His onyx eyes were met with cold, beady eyes, not unlike that of a birds. It dawned on him then just why Ivan Dreyar was often referred to as the Raven.

Ivan tossed his head towards the elevator doors, signaling him to leave. With a frown, Natsu slid between them once again, this time slipping his hand in the side pocket of Ivan's suit and pulling out an old-school flip-phone.

As he moved he tossed the phone under handed to his open palm that was still outside the elevator and holding the pole of the cart loosely. His right hand caught the phone and as he exited the elevator, he bought his body closer to the cart and slipped the phone into the inside pocket of his jacket.

The moment the doors click shut, Natsu turned and ran to the employee elevator. After quickly scanning for any cameras- none- he flipped open the phone and scanned the screen.

On it, showed no phone records or notifications. The only thing that separated it from a phone being used and a phone at a store was a single text message from an unknown number. In it was one line of an address:

 **3961 Foxwood Rd.**

Instantly, he committed it to memory and shut the phone. Almost without thinking, his hands disassembled the phone and placed a bug the size of a dime inside before carefully reconstructing it. He slid the phone into his outer pocket as the elevator chimed and its doors drew open.

Once outside, he ran down the hall to the room number he had been given, pushing the cart in front of him. To his immense satisfaction, the room was on the opposite side of the hotel as his own was.

He arrived just as they were entering their key cards. Their rooms were directly across from each other and as he stopped next to Ivan, he found himself trapped between them.

"Here," he said, taking the card from Ivan. "Let me." He reached across Ivan, his chest almost touching the taller mans arms. With one hand he opened the door and with the other he slipped the phone into Ivan's pocket, being sure to obscure the movement from Jiemma, whose eyes he could feel burning through the back of his head.

"There," Natsu said, a look of triumph on his face, "All set."

Without another word, Ivan stalked into the room, leaving Natsu alone in the hallway with Natsu.

He grunted irritably and Natsu gave into his inner snob and smirked at the freakishly buff giant, eyes sparkling mischievously. He then walked off in long, childish strides, almost hopping from square to square on the pattern of the rug.

Jiemma glared at Natsu's back angrily. Little did he know that a miniature, homemade stink bomb lay in his right hand pocket. Later, he would swear that no one had come even remotely close to him, yet he would know without a doubt just who exactly was responsible for the filthy prank.

.

.

* * *

 **Lucy's POV**

For what seemed like hours, I lay alone in the dark, staring blankly at the ceiling. Not that it wasn't interesting. Cherubs decorated the center, pink cheeked and butt-ass naked. Oh, and don't forget about Jesus, gazing helpfully at the corner.

Just when I was about to promise myself for the hundredth time that this time I really was going to get up, the door opened, light setting the room ablaze.

My eyes, which had adapted to the dark lighting, slid shut as I flinched away from the lights. Natsu, rightfully taking this as a sign I was still recovering- which I was, though it had nothing to do with the state of the lights- switched off the lights hastily.

"Hey, Luce," he said, tentative. He approached the bed as if it was an animal ready to pounce; careful and cautious. "How are you holding up?"

An image of Jiemma flashed before me. His face was bare of any skin and he was clawing at his neck, removing more and more with every stroke. I was screaming at him over and over to stop; to snap out of it, but when the image faded and Natsu's face slowly came back to view, there was no screaming- only a soft, secretive, scared laugh. It took me a moment to realize it was my own.

My laughter trailed off abruptly and I cleared my throat uncomfortably if not awkwardly. "Fine?"

He nodded at me, disbelief evident in his eyes.

I sighed and sat up. It wasn't fair. He could lie his ass off to me- or anyone else for that matter- and I wouldn't be able to discern him from the cherubs above me, yet I can't even go one word off track. Although in my case, the track was only one word.

"Less fine?" He smiled at me with pity he didn't even bother to hide. I don't like pity. Never have. I glared at him and he sobered up real quick.

"Vodka?" He asked, clearing his throat.

"Please." He nodded and went to work raiding the mini bar silently, turning on the dim lamb by the bedside.

I groaned and fell back onto the bed, forced to stare back up at the painting. "Why does he look so judgmental?" I wondered aloud.

"Hm? Oh. Jesus," Natsu followed my line of sight to the man in the corner. "Eh, fuck him."

I giggled loudly at his response. He stared at me questionably, cocking his head to the side. _Like a freaking puppy._

"Ah, Natsu, you never fail to surprise me."

He stared me in the eye and smirked teasingly. I rolled my eyes in mock annoyance. As if he saw me- which maybe he did- he spun and leapt onto the bed, wrinkling the carefully made bed. I flinched and closed my eyes instinctively. When the splash of alcohol never hit me, I looked up. He lay, leaning forward beside me, a whole bottle of vodka in one hand and a flask in the other.

I made a face and looked at him meaningfully. "Is there a reason you try to get women drunk?"

He rolled his eyes and grinned wickedly. "Only to take advantage of them." He winked, "Kidding. No cups," Then, under his breath, he muttered, "There go my plans for the evening."

Another eye roll later and I was sitting up taking the bottle as he spoke, "I got an address off his phone, just an address. There was absolutely nothing else on there. Almost thought it was brand new." He didn't bother to clarify whose phone.

"Yeah? Anything you recognize?"

He shook his head, "No, but I looked it up and its only ten minutes from here. A bar. Bit of a hole-in-the-wall, actually."

"Hm, that's unsurprising...What's that?" I gestured to the silver flask he held.

He gave a sly grin and gestured me forward. Playing along I leaned forward so his mouth was just grazing my ear as he spoke. Lips soft and warm, I barely heard him as he whispered "Whiskey," as if it were an unspoken secret.

Swallowing nervously I started to back up, when he lurched forward and bit the lobe of my ear, holding it between his teeth before letting me go. My face started to redden, the action being both playful and intimate. I silently thanked the lamp that gave off less light than a candle and focused my full attention on that point.

I moved to lay on my side, leaning on an elbow, my legs going into a half curled position. When I looked up, Natsu had his laptop out and was setting up a bug tracking program, taking a gulp from his flask every now and then.

Following his example, I opened my bottle up and took a bold gulp, shaking it off immediately afterwards. I looked up to find Natsu's eyes on me with an appreciative tint and a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. His eyes raked over my body, slowly. I fought for control, for Lord know what, as my breathing picked up. His eyes reached my own once again, the appreciative tint was still there, though I had a feeling it wasn't applauding my drinking skills.

I smiled shyly, forcing away the need to look down. Almost involuntary, his eyebrow shot up, a suggestive grin replacing the look of surprise even I found hard to see.

He lifted up the lap top as if to set it down when it beeped, a red light flashing twice.

An annoyed look mixed with something else- it couldn't be disappointment, could it?- flashed across his face as he turned his attention back to the screen.

I exhaled, my breath shaking, trying in vain to calm my thudding heart. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, a shiver going down my spine.

I took a deep breath, starting to ask what happened when he broke the not awkward, but not entirely comfortable silence.

"Someone's calling Ivan's phone. Numbers blocked, though. Hold on and I'll put it through." A second later, a static infused voice filled the silent room. It was deep and obviously disguised thickly with an expensive filter.

"-Last call for the night. Don't return call. Delete phone records. Tomorrow. 12 o'clock exactly," the voice rasped quickly. "Don't," if possible the voice sharpened even more. "Be late."

Ivan took a quick intake of breath just before the call ended with a click, leaving just static on the line.

Natsu and I looked up at each other and shared a look. Could this be the mystery address Natsu had found? And more importantly: Are we done working tonight?

After a moment of hopeful silence, Natsu made the decision for us, bringing the flask to his lips and tilting it back.

I scrunched up my nose with distaste just as he opened an eye to look at me. He brought the flask down smoothly. "What? Can't hold your liquor?"

I scoffed. "Uh. Of _course_ I can. Hold it, that is."

An annoying smirk played at his lips and he handed me the flask. "Thanks for the clarification."

I sat up and took it silently, placing the bottle of vodka on the floor. The metal was cool to the touch. It was lighter than I expected.

How much did he drink?!

I peeked back up at him, to see he was still staring at me. I gulped. Half of me begged the other to tell him the whole vodka thing was just a facade. It was water! Really!

And then there's the other half, the prideful, competitive side, who said that if I didn't drink the rest of this whiskey at this exact moment, I would be letting Natsu win. Something that I would do anything to prevent. Right?

 _Fuck me,_ I thought, before holding the bottle with two hands, feeling very much like a child, and tilted it back quickly. For a moment, there was only the smooth liquid flowing down my throat. Then there was the burning. I'd hate to make this sound worse than it is, but, HOLY FUCK.

My eyes shot open, but once glance at Natsu who was clearly on the verge of laughing, made me gulp down a mouthful... And another... And another. Because I was Lucy freaking Heartfilia. And I don't lose.

A second later, a hand tore the bottle away from my hands. As soon as the feeling of cold metal left my hand, I exhaled largely.

"God damn, woman," Natsu said, his look admiring. "You can hold your liquor, sure. But not as well as me." With that he tipped the rim to his mouth and took a long drink, the bottle tilting all the way up as the whiskey drained into his throat. Because he was Natsu freaking Dragneel. He was _The_ Salamander. And he didn't lose, either.

He brought the flask down and flipped it over, a single drop of the dark liquid falling onto the white comforter. He looked back up at me and grinned.

I sighed with annoyance and flopped down onto the bed. "You know, I would have finished that if you'd have let me."

"Well now we'll never know, will we?" I glanced up at him and glared. He smiled down at me and then turned away, shrugging off his ever present leather jacket.

"Hey," I asked quietly.

He paused and turned, his jacket halfway off, his biceps strained underneath the hard leather. "Yeah?" he replied in the same tone, his eyes softening from his usual roughness.

"Um, your jacket. I know you wear it often, but why? I mean, I've gathered it has some kind of... _emotional_ attachment. But, and I know its not my place to ask, I do, but does- does... Well, does Lisanna have anything to do with it?"

His body went rigid at the sound of her name, but, with a shaky laugh, he let go of the strain. "No, actually. It has nothing to do with her... Not that I know how you know her."

I opened my mouth to protest; explain, but he cut me off. "No, I don't really _want_ to know anyway," he took a deep breath, "Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, there was a small boy. He lived with his dad in the woods, away from everyone else. And he was happy. He never met his mother, but to him, that never mattered. He had all the love he needed. But then, one day... well the house burned down. The boy was playing with fire, he loved fire. Still does. Anyway the match... it just," he paused, taking a deep breath and shrugging, "-slipped. He tried to stop it, but he couldn't. And his father. Well, he was out of the house, getting supplies for his boy.

"The fire, meanwhile, spread. It devoured everything. Just _everything._ The poor boy was stuck. Part of the doorway had fell on him. After what seemed like hours, a screen of daylight poured in. It was his father, he had kicked down the doors. And I- he, he was so, so happy. Because it was his father and he would save him, he always did. When he did get him out, the house was black with smoke. It was impossible to see, even a foot away from the door and its daylight. Inevitably, the father slipped, the young boy, previously cradled in his arms, flew from his his arms, still grasping at the mans scarf. And, scarf in hands, the boy fled to the doorway, leaving his father in the burning ash and smoke.

"He lay for a while on the bright green grass, crying until he couldn't anymore. He had left his father. The only family he had left, and he left him for dead. It was his fault. _And_ ," he looked meaningfully at Lucy, "Nothing anyone would say later on, would make him believe otherwise. So, he ran, his only possessions were the clothes on his back and a scaly, white scarf.

"Later on, he met a small man, about his height, called Master Makarov, who took him in, and trained him to kill. And kill he would. For his country of course. Anyway, the boy was inseparable from the scarf, no matter what the situation called for. Of course, a problem had arisen. Makarov believed the scarf got in the way of the boy's training," Natsu was smiling now, "Obviously, he was wrong, but tried to take it from him anyway. Yet, Master had forgotten just who trained the boy, and was punished for his forgetfulness when the boy clocked him square in the face.

"Now, as the boy was being held down by Master, who was trying to force an apology out of him, which he never got, Erza, a fiery redhead, walked in, a little older than the boy. Being, well, _Erza_ , she solved the problem. She gave him a jacket. A tight, leather one, small enough to fit him. When, zipped up, it gave him what Master called 'more mobility', though the boy never noticed any difference. So, in order to please Master, he chose to be the bigger man, both literally and figuratively, and stood up straighter, allowing his scarf to be sewn into the jacket. Since then, Erza had bought him a leather jacket with a sewn in pocket for his scarf every year for his birthday. And here we are now. The End."

I was speechless. Never had I thought such a douche bag look would have such a deep meaning. "Oh... Natsu..."

He raised his jacket up to eye level and stared pulling the scarf, presumably, from its spot there. "It's fine. I've told the story so many times to Makarov and stuff, saying it bothers me less and less every time. I mean, I still miss him, but now I only think of good memories when I see this," he paused with mock thoughtfulness. "In the most manly-est way possible of course."

I rolled my eyes, playing along with his humor route. "I just can't believe you hit Master. If he wasn't such a pervert, I'd be afraid to even touch him. But, because he is, he deserves a Lucy Kick every once in a while."

Natsu laughed at that. "A pervert?"

I sighed dramatically, "If only you knew..."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really," he drawled, "I'll have to talk to him about that..."

"No!" I shouted quickly, "Do that, and he'll hate me forever!"

He scoffed, "You know sometimes, I forget you're so new and young. Master may be a pervert, but if you tell him off, he wont bother you again. And he wont ever hold it to you, either. Fairy Tail is home for the people who don't have one. There, we are all family. Its not supposed to be awkward or shy there. We just kind've do what we do, you know?"

I thought back to all the brawls and food fights. I even thought about the recklessness that seemed to be the essence of the guild itself.

"Yeah, I do...So, fire?"

His eyes lit up instantly, then faded as he registered the grin on my face. "Hey! I'll have you know I love fire, okay? It's awesome. Fire to me is like- like all that celestial crap to you!"

I gasped, "How do you even know about that?! And what do you mean 'Celestial crap'?!"

He sighed with exasperation. "No one writes a novel like that without loving what they're writing about. And you write a lot about celestial crap."

"There it is again! Crap! And what do you mean 'like that'? Like what?"

"Ahh! Luce! Shit, calm down. Like, well-"

"Well what!?"

"LIKE GOOD, OKAY? Jesus, Lucy! Calm the fuck down!"

My heart fluttered. My first reader. And... he thinks it's good? "You think its good?"

He stared at me, mouth agape. "That," his expression was incredulous, "Is what you got from all that?"

"Like, how good?"

"Luce, why don't you tell me a story from _your_ past?"

- _But how good is good?_ I was wondering, when his voice broke through. "Luce?"

"Oh! Yeah, okay. Let me think..." For a full minute, he sat silently while I spoke. Every now and then, I would see his mouth open, as if he were about to speak, then close suddenly. Suddenly an old memory broke into my mind, something I had thought I buried years ago. I smiled sadly at the thought.

"Luce? You don't-"

"Once upon a time," I began traditionally, "There was a small girl. She wasn't very happy. She was never very happy. Her parents died before her eyes and she herself was taken prisoner by a very bad man-"

"Lucy, you don't have to do this!"

I smiled again at him. Even without seeing myself, I felt the sadness in it, but there was also a stubbornness and need in it, and I think he saw that, too.

"One day, after she was taken back to what could only be described as a cell, she lay on the floor, thinking. For the day before, she had found a loose nail in a wall and had pulled it out with such force her fingers bled. She thought about killing herself, because nothing, _nothing_ , could ever be worse than the situation was at that time. Cold and alone, she whispered into the dark a line from a book she had once read, 'Today's the day, I take my life away.'

"She had believed she was alone, but a boy's voice called out from the cell next to hers. 'Don't do it! It isn't worth it. One day, I swear, we'll get out of here. It'll be better. Just stay strong. Just stay strong.' She asked him his name and he told her to call him Loke.

"She began to tell him her name, but he cut her off. He already knew her name. She told it to the wall every time she was called out of her cell before leaving with a guard. Anyway, day after day, they would speak to each other. And night after night he sang her to sleep. They soon became friends, the best of 'em. He was the first person she had ever loved after the death of her mother.

"One day, she realized that she had had enough. She told him that she was leaving and he had to come with her. He told her that now wasn't the right time, but foolishly, she insisted, and because he loved her too, he agreed.

"That night, they snuck out, the girl leading the way, the moment she turned a corner, she heard a thump. She hid behind the wall and peeked around it. A guard held Loke by the neck, several feet off the ground. He was struggling and clawing at the gloved hand, but nothing helped. He caught her eye and stopped squirming, his mouth moving, mouthing the word "Go". Tears pooled in her eyes as she shook her head, stubborn.

"The boy didn't think she was going to leave him then, so he started squirming again, this time, he threw his head back into the mans nose. It broke with a crack and the man dropped him. Loke tried to crawl away, but the man picked him up again, and, before her hidden eyes, he broke the boys legs. Loke screamed, and it was a horrible sound. She though of her parents then, and, unable to help herself, she bolted. Out the doors and into the night. She never saw him again." I gulped, swallowing back tears, "The end."

Without a word, Natsu moved in next to me, sweeping me up into the security of his arms. I took a deep breath, from both surprise and relief. "Lucy?"

"Yeah?"

"Um, never mind..."

I turned in his arms to look up at him. "You can ask me, you know. It's okay. I'm okay."

"It's just... You said your mother was the one you loved... What about your dad?"

For second I was quiet, then I let out a bark of a laugh. "Honestly, Natsu, you catch the smallest details. Well, its not that I didn't love my father, but... we just didn't have the same connection my mom and I had. I just don't really have a lot to say about him." A second later I shrugged.

"Okay, so talk about your mom, then."

I couldn't help but sigh, thinking of her. "I miss her. She was most beautiful, most wonderful woman you would've ever seen. She was smart and brave and so kind. I could talk to her about absolutely everything. She would give me advice and- Oh! She was funny, too! She had the quirkiest habits and," I breathed in, "She was just the best. I can never be half the woman she was." I said the last part without thinking. Funny how the truth comes out when you least expect it.

Natsu slid his hands down to my waist and picked me up so I was sitting on his lap. "Lucy..." He was quieter than usual and breathless.

Something in his voice made me turn towards him, hands on his chest, I stared into the darkness of his eyes, searching for something, _anything,_ that would tell me what to do.

His hands that remained on my waist, picked me up again and lay me onto the bed beside him. A moment later, he lowered himself on top of me. My heart sped up uncontrollably, my breaths coming shallow.

He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. The spot where his skin touched mine burned. I swallowed nervously. He noticed as he always does and spoke, his voice low and husky, "If you want be to stop tell me now. Because I'm not sure I'll be able to do it later."

I stayed quiet, my voice unable to function. He brought his hips next to mine, legs on either side. His lips drew in closer until they touched my collarbone. Slow and gentle, he kissed the spot there. I shuddered. "Or now."

He slid up my body so his lips reached the base of my neck. Hot and fierce, he lay his lips there and kissed. He rose again, moving higher and higher. "Or now."

He reached my lips finally, and I found myself rising up to meet him, at this point I almost begged him to just stop teasing me.

"But," he paused, searching my eyes for any flash of reluctance, but didn't find any. Now fear? Plenty. Excitement? Lust? Ferocity? Sure. But my body language told him to keep going and he did. "Certainly not now." With that, his lips came down onto mine. His tongue opened my mouth and I caved. He switched from gentle to wild, then back to gentle.

Then, I brought my hands to the side of his face, trying in vain to bring him closer. My then he closed his mouth teasing me. I almost cried out in frustration. Instead I bit his lower lip, forcing his mouth open.

Finally, I controlled him. I rolled him over with a burst of energy. I brought my mouth to his ear. "I. Can't. Take. This. Anymore."

He may have replied, but I stopped listening. I dove onto him, my hands roaming his body, his arms, under his shirt to his chest and abs. Finally I stopped at the waistband of his jeans, trailing my fingers along the side.

Satisfaction tore through me as he let out a groan. Then, he flipped me over, regaining control. His tongue explored my mouth, but soon it trailed down my neck to the base of my chest. He looked up at me, his arms on either side of me were shaking. His eyes asked me a silent question and I nodded. Without another second to spare, he carefully grabbed the hem of my shirt and tugged it off. He stared at my body for a second before staring back into my eyes.

"Lucy, I-"

Frustration clouded my thoughts, and, ignoring him, I pulled at his shirt. He stopped talking and looked at me with a smirk. Unable to help it, I pouted. Suddenly his eyes went wide and he brought his mouth back to mine, sucking my lower lip.

I pulled away, breathing heavily, and glared. He groaned and pulled off his shirt with haste. He started back on, but I held a hand to his chest, drinking him in appreciatively.

Finally, I nodded and he let his body lay back down on mine.

The pattern continued as he removed articles of clothing one by one. Each time, he would silently ask for my permission and impatiently I would nod, until finally there was nothing between us but skin against skin and an unbearable heat.

Too soon, he paused and stared me in the eyes. _Are you sure?_ Instead of speaking, I let my hips answer. Twice.

Suddenly my phone rang, at the worst, _and I mean the worst,_ possible time. He froze on top of me. "Lucy... No? Please?"

I groaned and reached to the ground and grabbed my phone. I showed him the caller ID. "Levy."

"Lucy. We have all the time in the world for that. Its our whole life. But right now, I see you and only you. I couldn't stop," he plucked the phone from my hand and turned it off, tossing it aside. "-Loving you, even if I wanted to," he paused, considering, "Both physically and emotionally."

I froze. Did he just...? "Loving me?"

He grinned, eyes shining. "Yes, Lucy Heartfilia, I love you and there's nothing you or anybody else can do to make me stop."

I gasped, frozen. A memory quickly flashed in my head. Jiemma. His face took the place of Natsu's and I stifled a scream, pulling away from him.

A wave of helplessness crashed over me, and, unable to help myself, I curled up into a protective ball.

A moment later, Natsu was there, pulling my hands from my face. "Luce? I'm sorry, I didn't want to scare you, but this is how I really feel. And I'm sorry if you don't feel the same, but... I love you-"

"No!" I screamed suddenly. I didn't mention the fact that it was Jiemma who really bothered me. That he seemed to always be here, even if he wasn't physically _here._ I grabbed a sheet and wrapped it around me. I was blinking furiously, then, but it didn't help the tears from streaming down my face.

"You say you love me, but what happens tomorrow? When we wake up and you realize this was a _mistake._ That the person you slept with wasn't actually _her._ Hmm?! When you leave me like you did all the other women? When you stop 'loving me'? What will happen then?!" I had more to say- more than I thought I had to say-, but my body shook with sobs and I couldn't force out anymore words.

I felt Natsu's hands on my face. Slowly, I let my hands fall from my face and into my lap. I could barely see him through my tear-covered eyes. "Lucy..." He wouldn't look at me- and I knew I shouldn't, but I couldn't help but fear what I would see in his eyes. The truth? That I was right and I hadn't changed him? Hadn't forced myself into his heart and through his angry facade.

Finally- it must've been hour later, but the clock on the bedside showed less than a minute- he looked up at me. He looked at me and I looked at him. Really _looked_ at him. Then I did see the truth in his eyes, but it didn't show me the same, hard, cold look that I found when I first met him. I saw vulnerability and it took me a second to remember that it was me he was comforting me- not the other way around.

"Lucy," he continued, "Lucy, that's the thing. You are not just any other girl. You're not _her_ and I love you for that. Did I love her before. Yes, I did. But what she meant to me is nothing compared to you being here with me and this moment and every moment afterwards. You think I'll wake up and just... _leave_?As if I could ever willingly leave you. I'm not strong enough to do that. Even if you took my heart and broke it to pieces, I wouldn't care, because you're the one doing it and if anyone would, then I'd hope to God it would be you. As if I could stop loving you..." He paused for so long I thought he was done.

"Goddammit, Lucy! You are so damn powerful and you don't even know it. You hold me in the palm your hand so carelessly. As if any moment you would... just let go. And I have never been this afraid. I would tear down the world without blinking an eye, if you asked me to. And... I keep telling myself to let you go because I hate this amount of control you have on me. But I can't. You have me and I am yours to take. And- and I know that if I _ever_ lost you- if you were ever taken from me, there'd be no force in this crazy, messed-up world we live in that could keep me from getting to you. Even if I had to burn it down, I would.

He took another deep breath and shook his head. "I have been shielding myself from everyone for years. I let one person in and I couldn't recover. So I built walls. And yet, when I first saw you, you just broke them down. I have belonged to you since the beginning and you had no fucking clue."

Speechless, I could only touch his face, make sure he was real. He was breathing deeply now and he was looking down. Holding his head, I forced him to look up at me. Slowly, so slowly it _hurt_ , he moved forward until our foreheads touch. I breathed him in as if trying to imprint his scent in my brain. "And yet, I belong to you. I am yours as much as you are mine."

His breath hitched like he believed I would reject him. Like I could ever do that. I dragged my hands down to his abdomen and pulled him down with me.

Suddenly, his earlier ferocity came back. He lay his body on mine, starting with his chest and going down until his legs lay by mine. His tongue slipped out and started at my neck, then went lower. Lower, lower, and-

I chastised him, "Remember," I breathed, shuddering, "Jesus is watching." He looked up at me and smirked. That lazy, sexy smirk of his- I bit my lip.

"How," he drawled, sliding back up, "Did you think he was born?"

"Well, let me show you."

I rolled him over and showed him exactly how Jesus was created. Twice.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

*breaths out* Well, wasn't that an adventure. It's been a while, but I am happy to announce that this is my longest chapter at 21 pages! I am unhappy to announce that the next chapter will most likely be the last. Of course its possible there will be two, but that really depends if you guys want an epilogue. Personally, I believe I tied it up quite nicely, but I can always write more.

So now that that's out of the way... HOLY CRAP HELLO

There will probably be a much larger, much more meaningful Note next chapter, but for now:

I really missed you guys and I would like to welcome all the new readers here. Oh and I do hope that this wasn't too intense for you guys, but I did warn you that the rating "T" does come with a certain level of maturity.

My god, I can't believe its been a year since I started this (*_*).

And, you know, I think _I_ have matured enough to not include the whole _**||||||||(FFR)|||||||**_ thing, ya know?

Anyway, thank you all so much for reading. I really do hope you liked this chapter. I tried something new (which I'm sure you noticed) because of different requests and stuff.

Kay, bye.


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